Markets end lower; fall dramatically in just five minutes

Commentary

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Published: Friday, April 20, 2012, 15:52 [IST]

Markets ended the day in deeply in the red, following a sharp and sudden reaction in just five minutes between 2.25 pm and 2.30 pm. The Sensex closed the day at 17,373 points, down 129 points, while the Nifty closed the day 41.50 points lower at 5290.85 points.

According to a Reuters report, the Nifty futures dropped as much as 6.7 percent in afternoon trade, dragging down spot indexes, which several dealers attributed to a trading mistake sparked by an attempt to sell both Infosys futures and index futures.

Among today losers were IDFC, Jaiprakash Associates, Ambuja Cements and Tata Power. Among the gainers in trade were Mahindra and Mahindra, Cipla, Wipro and Tata Steel.

Sentiments were also adversely affected after global investment bank, UBS downgraded Indian equities to "neutral" from "overweight". The bank has said that China was a better bet than India.

Shares of MRPL were down more than 5%, after the company shut down its plant due to water shortage. Banks which announced cut in rates continued to drift lower on selling pressure.

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