Monday 3 March, 2008

Benchmark indices close over 5% lower

Benchmark indices closed over 5 per cent lower Monday weighed down by weak global sentiments. Banking and power stocks were the worst hit in bear assault. BSE Sensex closed 900.84 pts down at 16,677.88. It touched a high of 17,227.56 and low of 16,645.87.

NSE’s Nifty ended 5.37 per cent or 279 points lower at 4,944.05. It touched a high of 5222.80 and low of 4936.05. TierII &III shares were less affected in the market meltdown. BSE Midcap Index and BSE Smallcap Index closed 4.29 per cent and 4.11 per cent lower respectively. Amongst the sectors BSE Bankex fell 6.74 per cent and BSE Power Index fell 6.49 per cent.

State Bank of India (down 9.89%), DLF (9.53%), BHEL (8.41%), HDFC (7.91%), Hindalco Industries (7.05%), Reliance Communications (6.52%) and Satyam Computer (6.48%) were under pressure. Biggest gainers were Hindustan Unilever (up 1.61%), Cipla (1.18%), Maruti Suzuki (0.78%) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (0.65%) managed to brave the tide. Across BSE, 2236 declines outnumbered 402 advances.