By IANS
Mumbai : Poor employment data from the US and continued woes on the sub-prime crisis kept world markets on their toes. Indian markets also continued to bleed, with key indices declining over three percent Friday.
The benchmark 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 19,579.61 points, down 0.61 percent, which was the high for the day.
After touching bottom at 18,930.42, down 3.91 percent, Sensex closed at 19,013.70, down 687.12 points or 3.40 percent.
The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) mirrored similar sentiments and opened flat at 5,907.75 points and marked a high of 5,908.75.
After touching a low of 5,677 points, down 3.99 percent, Nifty ended the day at 5,705.30, down 3.52 percent.
At BSE, the turnover toppers for the day were Reliance Industries at Rs.4.92 billion, HDFC Ltd at Rs.4.14 billion, Reliance Energy at Rs.3.18 billion, ICICI Bank at Rs.2.21 billion and Reliance Petroleum at Rs.2.13 billion.
The top five gainers included Ras Resort at Rs.55.40, up 19.91 percent, Hydro S&S at Rs.71.20, up 17.30 percent, Pratibha Industries at Rs.408.20, up 10.97 percent, Morganite Crucibals at Rs.110, up 10 percent and Ceekay Daikin at Rs.138.85, up 9.98 percent.
BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices, too, were down due to selling across the board.
The BSE Mid-Cap index closed at 8,893.71 points, down 4.78 percent and BSE Small-Cap index closed at 12,160.45 points, down 4.55 percent.
The top five turnover toppers at NSE were Reliance Industries at Rs.16.8 billion, Reliance Energy at Rs.12.21 billion, ICICI Bank at Rs.8.71 billion, Reliance Natural Resources at Rs.8.47 billion and Jaiprakash Associates at Rs.6.61 billion.
According to Krishnakumar G. Vora of K.G. Vora Securities Ltd, the markets are at a crossroad and await the fine print on short selling from market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India, and hence market players have preferred to stay liquid.
Book building initial public offer of Reliance Power was over-subscribed 63 times at the close of business at 3.30 p.m. on the last day of issue, according to data released by NSE.