Carnage across stock markets as rupee witnesses a free fall

Commentary

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Updated: Tuesday, August 6, 2013, 15:32 [IST]

The Sensex and Nifty went into a tailspin as the rupee hit a new historic low and worries re-surfaced that the RBI might now hike repo rates to prevent a rout on the rupee.

The Nifty ended the day lower by 143 points, while the Sensex closed lower by 443 points (provisional). Today's drop means the Nifty has lost over 500 points in 10 trading sessions, even as the rupee hit a new historic low of 61.80 against the dollar.

Banks, particularly the private sector blue chip names like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank tumbled on worries that the Reserve Bank of India might hike repo rates to calm the forex markets. The worst hit among the Nifty stocks was Tata Power, which dropped 15%, following results that lagged estimates, while IndusInd dropped 7%, as banking stocks were pounded.

The only Nifty stocks that ended the day with notable gains were Hero Motor Corp, Power Grid Corporation ans Ambuja Cements.

The ever reliable technology stocks also came in for some selling pressure with HCL Tech and Infosys among the losers.

PSU Banking stocks saw deep cuts with Union Bank ending the day lower by 7%, while Syndicate Bank and Bank of India saw losses of more then 5%.

Pharma major Wockhardt was locked at the lower end of the circuit filter again today. The bellweather pharma stocks also lost ground in the carnage with notable losers being Ranbaxy, Cipla, Lupin and Divis Labs. FMCG stocks which normally show resilience in a falling market also dropped with ITC and HUL among the losers.

Real Estate stock HDIL dropped 10% after Indiabulls Finance alleged that HDIL promoters, Rakesh & Sarang Wadhawan defaulted on interest payments.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day mixed with the Japanese Nikkei and the Shanghai Composite gaining ground while the Taiwan Weighted and the Hang Sang lost ground.

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