Indian markets open weak on tenuous global cues

Calcutta News.Net
Tuesday 20th November, 2007 (IANS)

Indian capital markets opened on a weak note Tuesday on the back of feeble cues from global markets.

Just after the opening bell, the benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was down by 177.17 points at 19,456.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was down by 67.05 points at 5,841.

Asian markets plunged as financials in the region were hit by a sell-off on Wall Street.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 3.21 percent or 881.19 points at 26,578.98. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.9 percent or 285.89 points at 14,756.67, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted slipped 3.29 percent or 285.93 points at 8,394.78, Singapore's Straits Times dropped 1.99 percent or 67.82 points at 3,343.90 and South Korea's Seoul Composite plunged 3.40 percent or 64.43 points at 1,829.04.

The Asian markets were down on fears that US spending will decline after Citigroup renewed fears about credit and the health of the US economy.

The Indian markets witnessed a slump in the last couple of trading sessions and are likely to remain shaky on weak global markets.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who were net sellers in equities in the last couple of sessions, may also add some pressure on investor sentiment.

Most of the Indian American depository receipts (ADRs) ended in the red on US bourses.

ICICI Bank tumbled 5.46 percent and Wipro slipped 5.41 percent, while Infosys, Satyam, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank and VSNL lost 2-4 percent each. However, Dr Reddy's Lab and Patni Computer gained marginally.

Crude oil prices in the global market extended their upward trend on weak US dollar and on concerns that supplies could tighten as the US and other consumer nations head into winter.

The Nymex light crude oil for January series gained by 80 cents at $94.64 a barrel. In the commodity space, the Comex gold for December delivery moved down by $9 to settle at $787 a troy ounce.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices continued to outperform the Sensex.

Top gainers on the Sensex were ACC at Rs.1,126 up 3.89 percent, Reliance Energy at Rs.1,853.95 advanced 1.46 percent and Reliance Communication at Rs.719 scaled up 1.23 percent.

Top losers on the Sensex were BHEL at Rs.2,720 down by 2.28 percent, DLF at Rs.932.85 declined 1.58 percent and Maruti Suzuki at Rs.1,038 slid down 1.47 percent.

Most active shares on NSE were IFCI at Rs.103.80 with 38,463,199 shares traded, Reliance at Rs.2,834.85 with 1,051,488 shares traded and Reliance Petroleum at Rs.211.45 with 11,862,812 shares traded.

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