Sensex ends lower again; loses 1100 points in 3 trading sessions

Commentary

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Updated: Tuesday, August 20, 2013, 15:33 [IST]

The Sensex ended the day marginally lower after falling a huge 300 points in early trade as the rupee recovered from the 64 levels and bonds yield cooled-off. Global markets, though, saw sharp sell-offs with the Jakarta Composite losing as much as 9 per cent in two trading sessions.

The Nifty ended the day lower by 13 points, while the Sensex closed the day lower by 74 points (provisional), after dipping below the 18,000 levels in early trade. Banking stocks saw some reprieve in trade as bond yields cooled off. ICICI Bank which hit a 52-week low in trade today, recovered and closed the day higher.

Other banking stocks also saw some buying support with notable gainers being State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank and Kotak Bank.

Apart from these stocks Sesa and Sterlite rallied after their merger became effective. IT stocks which had remained resilient in the last few trading sessions lost ground and investors booked profits. Shares of TCS, Wipro and HCL all fell in trade today. However, Infosys ended the day flat.

Jaiprakash Associates which had been beaten down saw some buying interest and closed higher by almost 5 per cent.

Other stocks that ended the day with gains from the Nifty were DLF, IDFC and Cairn India.

Pharma stocks which have exhibited resilience in the last few months cracked with Lupin, Sun and Glenmark all losing in trade.

Meanwhile, Asian markets saw steep falls led by the Jakarta Composite. Other Asian markets that lost ground in trade were the Japanese Nikkei, Korean Kospi and Singapore's Strait Times. European markets were also in the red on fears that the Fed would begin tapering its QE programme next month.

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