Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Sensex closed below the psychological 18,000-level for the first time in about one month on fag-end selling by nervous fund houses ahead of key economic data from the US. Led by heavy profit-booking in realty,banking and IT stocks,the BSE bellwether fell 228 points to close the day at 17,998.41,its worst closing since July 30. The Sensex had closed July at 17,868.29 level. The wide-based 50-share Nifty Index of the National Stock Exchange,too,lost 1.26 per cent to finish at 5,408.70.
Nervous investors preferred to book profits ahead of crucial GDP data for the worlds biggest economy,the US,and a statement from Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke. The market sentiment was already dampened after weak economic data on jobs and housing and any negative news this time may trigger a further sell-off by fund houses.
ICICI Bank plunged 2.84 per cent,SBI 2.16 per cent,HDFC Bank 1.7 per cent and HDFC 0.8 per cent. Realty major DLF sank 3.30 per cent,the most in the Sensex pack. IT bellwether Infosys,which has the highest weightage in the Sensex after RIL,tanked nearly 2 per cent. TCS lost 2.10 per cent and Wipro 0.88 per cent. Reliance Industries dropped for another day and slipped below the Rs 950 level. The scrip ended the day at Rs 949.75,down 0.73 per cent.
Analysts said investors were concerned about the pace of the recovery in the worlds largest economy US and some changes in the direct tax code (DTC),which has hiked the minimum alternative tax to 20 per cent. Though there has been some relaxation in corporate tax,the rise in MAT is a matter of concern for investors, a fund manager said.
