China factor weighs down Sensex to end 226 points lower


China factor weighs down Sensex to end 226 points lower
Mumbai: A fall in Chinese bourses weighed heavily on Indian equities markets with a key index ending trade Wednesday 226 points below its previous close. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened higher at 15,079.04 points, ended at 14,809.64 points, down 225.62 points or 1.5 percent. The chart showing the 52 week performance of the Sensex is on the left. The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed in the red, losing 1.45 percent or 64.80 points from its previous closing figure to end at 4,394.10 points. Broader market indices too closed in the negative terrain, with the BSE midcap index ending 1.14 percent down, while the the BSE smallcap index closed 0.52 percent lower. The NSE's Volatility Index - a measure of the market's expectation of volatility over the short term - stood at 45.04 points Tuesday, higher than the 35-point mark that indicates risk. The market breadth was negative, with 1,134 stocks advancing, 1,490 declining and 89 remaining unchanged. Of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, only three ended on the gainer's list: HDFC, up 1.56 percent at 2,357.15; HDFC Bank, up 0.44 percent at 1,447.20; and L&T, up 0.22 percent at 1,481. Among the losers were ACC, down 5.08 percent at 756.55; Reliance Infra, down 4.86 percent at 1,080.55; Reliance Communications, down 4.38 percent at 240.25, and Grasim Industries, down 4.2 percent at 2,465.30. At the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the main index closed 4.3 percent lower - rising after having lost more than 5 percent - with investors shedding stocks which had run up during the last six months by sucking excess liquidity off the system. The fall in Chinese bourses was felt across the globe with other Asian markets ending in the red. The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, ended 80.96 points down at 10,284.96 points, 0.79 percent lower than its previous close. The Hang Seng, the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, also fell, shedding 325.04 points or 1.73 percent at 19,954.23 points. European markets too felt the tremors of the Chinese stock fall with key indices opening weak. In Britain, the FTSE 100 index was 0.84 percent lower at 4,646.57 points. Its French peer, the CAC 40, was down 0.98 percent at 3,416.86 points. Germany's DAX was also ruling negative at 5,182.7 points, having slipped 1.3 percent.
Source: IANS