By IANS
Mumbai : Indian markets closed Monday deep in the red with the benchmark index shedding over 4 percent on weak global cues and a poor show by Reliance Power Ltd (RPL) on its maiden trading day.
RPL, which last month made a record initial public offer (IPO) of about $3 billion, slid sharply by more than 17 percent despite listing at Rs.547.80 at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), a premium of more than 20 percent over its offer price of Rs.450.
It closed at Rs.372.50 at the BSE against its original issue price of Rs.450.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of BSE ended the day at 16,630.91 points, slipping 833.98 points or 4.78 percent.
The Sensex had plummeted by more than 1,000 points Monday afternoon to touch the day’s low of 16,457.74 points.
At broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 4,857 points, down 263.35 or 5.14 percent.
All the key BSE indices ended deep in red led by key sectors like oil and gas, metals, power, realty and banks.
The market breadth was extremely poor with low volumes. However, IT stocks were the star performers in Monday’s trade and the leading counters managed to close in the green.
At BSE, 352 shares advanced, 2,610 declined and 49 remained unchanged.
Among the Sensex losers, Reliance Energy slumped 21.95 percent to Rs.1,532.30, Reliance Communication slipped 9.61 percent to Rs.584, Hindustan Unilever skidded 7.44 percent to Rs.196, Mahindra & Mahindra shed 7.41 percent to Rs.597.15 and State Bank of India fell 6.91 percent to Rs.2,036.
Among the Sensex gainers, Satyam Computer spurted 2.93 percent to Rs.422, Wipro rose 1.08 percent to Rs.427, Maruti Suzuki gained 0.95 percent to Rs.811.50, and Infosys Technologies moved up 0.88 percent to Rs.1,565.
In Europe, key benchmark indices in Britain, France and Germany were down by 0.39 percent to 0.85 percent.
Even the Asian markets were trading lower today. Key indices in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea were down by 2.44 percent to 3.64 percent. Stock markets in Japan, China and Taiwan were closed.
US markets settled on a mixed note Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 64.87 points, or 0.53 percent at 12,182.13. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 11.82 points to 2,304.85.