The market gets off to a positive start after a disappointing Wednesday at Dalal Street. Sensex kicked off the day at 8893, up 117 points from its previous close, while Nifty started the day at 2734, up 30 points.
Poor global cues saw Indian market close at the low point of the day on Wednesday. It was a terrible day with the market breaking crucial support levels lead by heavy selling of largecap stocks. The market saw heavy selling by frontline stocks in last hour of trade. Sensex shut shop at 8779, down 321 points and Nifty at 2706, down 90 points from the previous close. Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Hindustan Unilever (3.39 per cent), and ITC (0.15 per cent). On the other hand, Sterlite Industries (India) (7.97 per cent), Housing Development Finance Corporation (7.49 per cent), Tata Power Company (7.32 per cent), ICICI Bank (7.12 per cent), Grasim Industries (5.96 per cent), and Reliance Energy (5.72 per cent) were the major losers in the Sensex.
On Wednesday, metal, power, banking and oil & gas were hammered badly, while FMCG rose. The inaugural speech by the 44th President of America failed to boost the confidence of the investors regarding the financial stability of the economies worldwide. BSE midcap and smallcap index dropped 1.97 per cent and 1.93 per cent respectively. Among the sectoral indices, BSE Metal was worst hit. The counter plunged 4.07 per cent, BSE Power and Bankex also took a severe beating, dropping over 3 per cent each, BSE Oil & gas shed 3.78 per cent, while FMCG moved up 0.84 per cent. Indian market opened the day on a negative note. The 30-share index, BSE Sensex opened with a loss of 199.77 points, at 8,900.78 following negative cues from global shores triggered by fresh concerns that the global banking crisis may be far from over.
— Shailesh Shah
