By IANS
Mumbai : Indian equities faced the brunt of weak Asian and European markets Wednesday, resulting in a lower ending, with consumer durables, metals, information technology and auto stocks coming under selling pressures.
The 30-share sensitive (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange, ended at 18,139.49 points, down 523.67 points, or 2.81 percent, after hitting a high of 18,274.15 in mid-morning trades.
Even at the day’s high, the key index scaled was down 389.01 points, while at a low of 17,936.01 in the initial trades, it was down as much as 727.15 points.
The mid-Cap and small-cap indices of the exchange lost 1.25 percent 0.52 percent and all the 13 sector-specific indices ended lower, with the index for IT stocks taking a hit of 5.59 percent, followed by 4.55 percent for consumer durables.
The mood was no different at the National Stock Exchange, where the 50-share Nifty was down 161 points or 2.94 percent at 5,322.55 points.
Market breadth was weak throughout the trading session and out of 2,790 stocks in the BSE that traded Wednesday, 1,486 ended in the red. Only 1,258 stocks managed to post some gains and 46 trade flat.
In other Asian markets, the key indices in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore were down by 3.5-5.40 percent. The markets in South Korea, Taiwan, and China were closed for their lunar New Year holidays.
Consumer durables stocks declined. Rajesh Exports was the biggest loser of the day – the scrip slid by 9.08 percent to Rs.136.60 – followed by Titan Industries which was down 8.57 percent at Rs.1,138.
Satyam Computer Services was the biggest loser of the day in the IT sector, down 6.69 percent at Rs.408.90, followed by Infosys down 6.25 percent at Rs.1,510.60. Wipro slid 6.01 percent and Tata Consultancy Services declined 5.15 percent.
Metal stocks also declined, with Sterlite, National Aluminium, Tata Steel and Hindalco taking a hit of between 4-5 percent, while in the oil sector, Reliance Industries fell 2.44 percent at Rs.2,552.05.