Sensex slips 255 points to four-month low; Cipla, Coal India tank; Rupee falls 32 paise

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex on Thursday plunged 255 points to a four-month closing low of 20,193.35 on poor earnings of Cipla and Coal India, weak global cues and continued worries over the domestic economy.

Banking, capital goods, refinery, metal and pharma sectoral indices suffered the most among the eleven that dropped in the BSE while realty index bucked the trend. Overall, 26 out of 30 Sensex-based scrips fell.

Drop in HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ITC, L&T, RIL, Cipla, ONGC, HUL and SBI together added over 200 points fall to the bluechip index, which had gained over 114 points in past two days. The BSE gauge opened higher but quickly fell back on weak Asian cues.

It remained in the negative terrain throughout to settle lower by 1.25 per cent or 255.14 points - its biggest fall since February 3. Today's closing level of 20,193.35 is the lowest since October 8, 2013 (19,983.61).

"Weak quarterly results of certain large caps, poor global cues and uncertainty over a clear direction to the markets may have led to sharp weakness," said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth & Securities.

Worries over the domestic economy also led to selling after data yesterday showed industrial output contracted 0.6 per cent in December.

Retail inflation easing to 2-year low of 8.79 per cent in January, did not help frayed nerves. The wide-based CNX Nifty of the NSE also tumbled 82.90 points, or 1.36 per cent to end at 6,001.10 -- the lowest closing level since November 22, 2013 (5,995.45).

Thursday's drop was the sharpest since 87.70-point dip on February 3, 2014. Cipla shares saw a nearly 8 per cent drop after third quarter earnings lagged estimates.

PSU major Coal India Ltd (CIL) fell 3.4 per cent on disappointing earnings. SBI ended 2.16 per cent down ahead of Q3'FY14 results tomorrow. Global stocks fell, led by a drop in Tokyo, ahead of US data releases. European markets too were trading lower in early trades after some weak earnings.

Key Asian benchmark indices in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan fell in 0.46-1.79 per cent range. The index from Singapore, however, rose 0.15 per cent. In Europe, Germany's DAX was down 0.19 per cent, France's CAC down 0.29 per cent and the UK's FTSE down 0.57 per cent.

Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research, Veracity Broking Services said: "Indian equity markets opened on a positive note.

However, they lost steam and then became weak in the latter part of the day, due to the absence of FII community." Pharmaceuticals giant, Cipla, was the top loser from the Sensex pack with a fall of 7.70 per cent.

Other losers from the Sensex were BHEL 3.50 per cent, Coal India 3.39 per cent, ONGC 3.29 per cent, Hindalco Industries 3.19 per cent, Tata Power 2.73 per cent, HDFC 2.43 per cent, L&T 2.25 per cent, SBI 2.16 per cent and Dr Reddy's Lab 2.04 per cent.

HUL 2.02 per cent, HDFC bank 1.92 per cent, Tata Steel 1.87 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.81 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.80 per cent, Axis Bank 1.61 per cent, Bajaj Auto 1.59 per cent, Gail India 1.57 per cent, RIL 1.22 per cent, Wipro 1.16 per cent and ITC 1.11 per cent were other losers. However, the four Sensex gainers were led by TCS that rose 1.42 per cent and M&M which gained 1.16 per cent.

Among the S&P BSE secotoral indices, Bankex dropped by 2.11 per cent, Capital Goods 2.06 per cent, Oil&Gas 1.84 per cent, Metal 1.81 per cent, Power 1.68 per cent, Healthcare 1.63 per cent and FMCG 0.93 per cent.

The Realty index inched up by 0.39 per cent. Market breadth remained negative as 1,661 stocks ended in the red while 921 stocks finished in the green. The total turnover dropped to Rs 1,667.49 crore from Rs 1,880.27 crore on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares Rs 211.99 crore (net) yesterday as per the provisional data issued by the stock exchanges.

Next: Rupee falls 32 paise vs USD to 62.42 on dollar demand, weak stocks

Rupee falls 32 paise vs USD to 62.42 on dollar demand, weak stocks

Mumbai: The rupee on Friday erased initial gains and slipped 32 paise, logging its biggest daily drop in over two weeks, to end at 62.42 versus the dollar in line with weakness in domestic stocks and sustained demand of the American currency from oil importers.

The rupee commenced higher at 62.05 a dollar from last close of 62.10 -- a three-week high. It improved further to a high of 62.03 due to higher opening in domestic equities and initial dollar selling by exporters.

Later, it dipped on sluggish stock markets to a low of 62.46, before concluding at 62.42, logging a fall of 32 paise or 0.52 per cent. In last straight two days, it had gained 33 paise or 0.53 per cent. Today's drop is the biggest since 44-paise fall on January 27.

"In the last couple of sessions, we have witnessed that India's trade data, IIP and CPI have all been encouraging. However this set of data has failed to give support to the rupee. On the global front, dollar index is trading flat amid absence of major events or data releases," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder & CEO, India Forex Advisors.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today plunged by 255.14 points, or 1.25 per cent, while FIIs injected Rs 211.99 crore yesterday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges. The dollar index, an indicator of other six major global currencies, was sharply down by 0.47 per cent ahead of key economic data later in the day today.

Showing no sign of economic recovery, government data yesterday evening showed that industrial output remained in the negative territory for the third month in a row by contracting by 0.6 per cent in December, even as retail inflation eased to two-year low of 8.79 per cent in January.

Meanwhile, forward dollar premiums ended mixed. The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable in July moved down further to 239-240 paise from 241-243 paise previously. Far forward contracts maturing in January rose to 484-485 paise from 482.5-484.5 paise previously.

The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 62.2725 and for the euro at 84.8710. The rupee stumbled further against the pound to 103.84 from last close of 102.76 from 102.20. It fell back sharply to 85.32 per euro from 84.58. It also reacted downwards to 61.24 per 100 Japanese yen from 60.65.