It was another dismal session for the market. Benchmark indices were washed out completely; the Nifty has closed below 3000 for the first time since July 24, 2006. The BSE Sensex ended below 10000. Negative global cues and severe fall in the metal stocks led to this crash.

However, the markets recoverd sharply to turn in green post FM announcement of SEBI asking FIIs to reverse short positions on borrowed shares but recovery did not last too long & fizzled out as viciously as it had gained.

Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum, Bharti Airtel, SAIL, SBI, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Infosys, Tata Motors and Hindalco were big contributors to this fall.

Both benchmark indices have closed below their psychological levels. The Sensex plunged 398.20 points or 3.92%, to settle at 9,771.70. It has touched an intraday low of 9,681.28 and high of 10,260.55. The NSE Nifty Fifty closed at 2943.15, down 122 points or 3.98% from previous close. It has hit a high/low of 3085.10 and 2917.15.

The biggest loser of the day was BSE metal index. It crashed quite harshly, was down 11.08% or 622.53 points at 4,996.92. NALCO, Hindalco, JSL and Jindal Steel tumbled 11-14%. Hindustan Zinc, Welspun Gujarat, JSW Steel and Sterlite Industries fell 7.5-10%.

Tata Steel has hit new 52-week low of Rs 205.70. It was down by Rs 36.35, or 14.85% at Rs 208.45 and traded with volumes of 4,661,381 shares, an increase of 82% compared to its 5-day average of 2,564,641 shares.

SAIL closed at 83.60, down 14.39% or by Rs 14.05, after touching new 52-week low of 80.90 in the today's session. It traded with volumes of 3,514,902 shares, an increase of 57.01% compared to its 5-day average of 2,238,665 shares.

The CLSA report also added some fuel to steep fall in metal stocks. It said that Tata Steel could turn in to a loss making company for next quarter or two, if European steel prices fall sharply, reports CNBC-TV18. 

Going ahead, the agency said it sees highest potential downside in Tata Steel and JSW Steel, adding that it has cut FY10 EPS or earnings per share estimates by 16-27% for all Indian steel companies.

The market breadth was extremely weak; about 804 shares have advanced while 2174 shares have declined. Nearly 212 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Oil & Gas Index lost 339.30 points or 5.3%, to close at 6,058.28. Aban Offshore plunged 16.54%. Reliance Petroleum, Essar Oil, Reliance Industries, HPCL and BPCL fell 7-10%. IOC, Cairn India and RNRL lost 3.4-5.5%.

Auto stocks like Tata Motors plummeted 14.57%. Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Bharat Forge and Hero Honda fell 6.5-10%. The BSE Auto Index lost 215.37 points or 7.21% to 2,769.79.

The selling continued in the realty stocks. Realty Index crashed another 128.12 points or 5.26%, to settle at 2,305.58. Unitech slipped 13.81% or Rs 9.9 to 61.80. It has hit new 52-week low of 60.30. It traded with volumes of 5,327,988 shares, an increase of 56.04% compared to its 5-day average of 3,414,532 shares.

Other realty stocks like Phoenix Mills, Puravankara Projects, Anant Raj Ind, Peninsula Land and Parsvnath fell 7-9.5%.

Healthcare Index lost 134.88 points or 4.22% to 3,064.44. Glenmark and Ranbaxy Labs went down 11-11.5%. Sun Pharma Advanced, Piramal Health, Apollo Hospital and Matrix Lab fell 6-7%.

Among the telecom stocks, Idea Cellular slipped 12.83% followed by Bharti Airtel, MTNL and Reliance Communication, which lost 7.76%, 3.29% and 2.31%, respectively.

Banking stocks also took beating on the bourses. ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Bank of India, SBI, IOB and IDBI Bank fell 3.5-8%. The BSE Bankex was down by 183.44 points or 3.33%, to close at 5,321.14.

Power Index fell 2.16% or 36.28 points, to settle at 1,640.34. Suzlon Energy lost 9.12%. Reliance Infrastructure, Power Grid Corp, Reliance Power, GMR Infra and Torrent Power fell 4-7%.

The BSE IT Index lost 50.47 points or 1.81%, to close at 2,739.80. Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech tumbled 7-10%. Patni Computer, Satyam, Wipro and Infosys fell 1.4-3.4%.

FMCG stocks like United Breweries, HUL, Tata Tea, Godrej Consumer, Marico and ITC lost 1-4%. BSE FMCG Index lost 33.03 points or 1.68% to 1,936.53.

The BSE Midcap Index was down by 111.67 points or 3.2%, to end at 3,378.72 and the BSE Small Cap Index lost 145.99 points or 3.55% at 3,965.70.

Among the midcap stocks, Allcargo Global, KEC International, Ashapura Mine, Panacea Biotech and IVRCL Infrastructure slipped 17-20%.

In the small cap space, House of Pearl, Sundaram-Clayton, Bhagwati Banquet, Lloyd Electric, Euro Ceramics and Trent fell 15-19%.

However, the BSE Capital Goods Index managed to closed with a mild gain of 17.93 points or 0.25% at 7,244.86. BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, AIA Engineering and Crompton Greaves gained 1.5-2.8%.

The total traded turnover has quite improved; stood at Rs 67,918.19 crore. This includes Rs 10,544.45 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 53,624.95 crore from NSE F&O and balance Rs 3,748.79 crore from BSE Cash segment.

Kirby Daley, Senior Strategist, Newedge Group, said that forced selling is being witnessed on account of de-leveraging globally. He added that this will continue till the end of the year. Daley expects more downside with volatility. He added that any rally in global equities should be seen as an opportunity to sell.

On the global front, Asian markets ended sharply lower. Kospi tumbled 7.5%. Straits Times, Hang Seng, Jakarta and Taiwan lost 3-4%. Nikkei fell 2.46% and Shanghai was down 1.07%.

The European markets were trading quiet weak; FTSE was down 2.61%. CAC and DAX were down by 2.59% and 4.3%, respectively, at 4:45 pm.

The Dow Jones Futures was down 47 points and the Nasdaq Futures fell 17 points.

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