By IANS,
Mumbai : With Argentina joining the growing list of countries hit by the global financial tsunami and weak global cues, Indian equities markets continued to shed value Thursday and a key equities index dipped below the psychologically important 10,000 mark mid-afternoon.
Despite lower Indian inflation figures and several positive measures announced by the Indian government, central bank and the market regulator over the past few days, continued uncertainty across the globe was affecting sentiment, analysts said.
Mid-afternoon at 1.30 p.m., the benchmark 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange was at 9,914.31, down 255.59 points or 2.51 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 10,169.90 points.
The Sensex opened very weak at 9,683.41, down 486.49 points or 4.8 percent from its previous close Wednesday, hit a low of 9,681.28 and then recovered somewhat on lower inflation rate figures.
The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also opened weak and went below the psychologically important 3,000 mark before recovering somewhat to rule at 3015.65, 49.5 points or 1.61 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 3065.15 points.
The BSE midcap index was at 3,391.69, down 98.70 points or 2.83 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 3,490.39 points.
The BSE smallcap index was at 3,988.97, down 122.72 points or 2.98 percent from its previous close Wednesday at 4,111.69 points.
Metal and automobile stocks were leading the downward rally and information technology and consumer durables were the top gainers.
Overnight the New York Stock Exchange’s key industrial index closed 6.95 percent down while the key index of the Nasdaq – the stock exchange for technology stocks – finished with a 4.77 percent loss.
Asian markets also provided negative cues with the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange down 2.46 percent and the Hong Kong market’s Hang Seng down 4.65 percent.