Mumbai: The BSE Sensex fell for the fifth session in a row today to new 28-month low of 15,175.08 on across-the-board selling amid investor concerns over slow growth, falling rupee and persisting euro-zone debt troubles.
Selling was so strong that 12 of the 13 sectoral indices closed with losses of up to 3.5 percent. Only BSE-FMCG ended just in the green. Besides, 25 of the 30 Sensex scrips ended the session in the red with L&T and BHEL hitting 52-week lows. Heavyweight Reliance Industries fell over 3 percent.
Initially, Sensex touched a high of 15,448.13 on mixed Asia markets. It then declined and fell sharply at the fag end to settle at 15,175.08 -- down 204.26 points or 1.33 percent. Sensex has tumbled 827.52 points or 5.17 percent in the past five sessions.
Analysts said investors are concerned over the slowdown in the economy and the falling rupee, which has declined to 53.03 per U.S dollar from 45 a few months ago, making imports costly. Besides, overseas markets continue to be weak on persisting worries about the euro-zone debt troubles and slowdown in global growth environment.
"Indian equities market has witnessed continuous selling in the last few sessions. Moreover high inflation, lower than expected GDP growth have a negative sentiment in the market," said Parag Doctor, Associate VP, Motilal Oswal Securities. The government delay in policy implementation and higher fiscal deficit are major concerns in the market, he added.
"The downtrend continued for yet another day, with heightened volatility. Interest rate sensitive sectors like banks, capital goods and realty continued to reel under pressure," said Shanu Goel, Sr Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.
The NSE 50-issue index, Nifty, dipped another 68.90 points or 1.49 percent to a new 28-month low of 4,544.20.
FIIs continued the selling spree. They have offloaded shares worth 1,928.90 crore in last seven sessions as per the data of market regulation Sebi. Global markets showed mixed trend. Key indices in China, Singapore ended with small losses, while Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan made small gains. European markets were quoting mixed in the afternoon.
Major losers from the Sensex pack were Jaiprakash (7.26 pc), followed by Tata Steel (5.27 pc), Tata Power (5.23 pc), Hero MotoCorp (5.16 pc), L&T (5.14 pc), Hindalco (4.45 pc), Bharti Airtel (4.03 pc), Jindal Steel (3.98 pc), NTPC (3.52 pc), RIL (3.03 pc), SBI (2.99 pc), Tata Motors (2.78 pc), Bajaj Auto (2.41 pc), Sterlite (2.06 pc), DLF (1.93 pc) and BHEL (1.21 pc).
However, ONGC rose 2.39 pc, HDFC Bank - 1.98 pc and ITC by 1.11 pc. Among the sectoral indices, Capital Goods plunged 3.50 percent, Metals (3.48 pc), Realty (2.71 pc), Power (2.59 pc) and Auto (2.44 pc). The total market breadth on the BSE remained negative as 1,877 stocks closed with losses, while 862 ended with gains. The total turnover was low at 1,908.10 crore, as against 1,844.17 crore.