Nifty slips below 5300; broader markets down 3%

The Nifty hit a three-week low to fall way below 5300 while the Sensex slipped more than 450 points as huge shorts piled up and long positions unwinding took place. Equity benchmarks underperfomed their global peers as European markets were down more than 1.5%.

The Sensex plummeted 485 points or 2.7% to 17,438. Meanwhile, the Nifty lost 155 points or 2.85% to 5,275 led by sell-off in 45 stocks. The broader markets tanked over 3%.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, L&T, SBI and ICICI Bank crashed 3.6-5%. Infosys, HDFC Bank and TCS were down 1-1.7% while BHEL plunged 5%.

Among metals stocks, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Hindalco tumbled 5.5-6%.

In the auto space, Hero Motocorp lost over 6%. M&M, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Maruti were down 3-4.5%.

Market breadth deteriorated further; about four shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

In the second line shares, Tube Investment rallied 9%. AIA Engineering, Godfrey Phillip, 3M India and Gillette India gained 2-2.7% while Sintex Industries, BF Utilities, HCC, Jaypee Infra and PTC India were down 8-9%.

Smallcaps like Nirlon, Triveni Turbine, C Mahendra Exports, SPML Infra and Pradip Overseas shot up 4.5-11%. However, Kalyani Steels, Spanco, Mangalore Chemical, Shasun Pharma and Provogue tumbled 9%.

At 13:37 hours IST: Nifty sheds 100 pts; Bharti, Cipla, ITC outperform

Rising crude prices and impending result of UP election have dampened sentiments in the market. The Sensex fell more than 300 points and the Nifty slipped over 100 points, with ICICI Bank, L&T, Reliance, BHEL and SBI taking a hard knock. The broader markets saw major sell-off as compared to benchmarks - the BSE Midcap and Smallcap Index fell over 2.2%. However, ITC, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Cipla and Sun Pharma outperformed other largecaps, gaining 0.3-1%.

The Sensex was trading down 314 points to 17,609 led by 25 out of 30 stocks. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading at 5,328, down 101 points.

Concerns of rising crude oil prices, that will lead to higher inflation, has gripped the market.  At present India imports more than 75% of its oil from overseas. The impending RBI policy next month may not consider rate cuts in near term.

Another worrisome factor for the market is UP election results, scheduled to be announced on March 6. There are rumours that the congress may not get majority in votes.

Rate sensitives like ICICI Bank and SBI were down 3.6% & 2.2%, respectively. Auto stocks like Tata Motors, M&M, Bajaj Auto and Maruti tanked 2-2.7%; Hero Motocorp plunged nearly 5%. In the realty space, DLF lost 3.5%.

Capital goods stocks like L&T and BHEL dropped 3-4%. Metals too lost their shine - Tata Steel and Jindal Steel tumbled over 4.5%; Hindalco was down 4%; Sterlite and Coal India were down 1.4-2% while Sesa Goa slipped 9% due to merger of Sterlite with the company.

_PAGEBREAK_

At 12:40 hours IST : Cap goods, banks, metals drag Sensex 300 pts down

The NSE Nifty fell 1.8% on Monday, extending last week's 2% decline, as high global oil prices revived concerns about inflation in the country that imports about 80% of its oil consumption.

The market witnessed heavy sell-off in sectors like banks (barring HDFC Bank), capital goods, metals.  The market breadth worsened; about three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

The Sensex was down 304 points or 1.69% to 17,620 and the Nifty fell 1.8% or 97.5 points to 5,332.

Lenders such as ICICI Bank and bigger rival SBI led the losers on worry price pressures could make it difficult for the RBI to ease monetary policy.

R Sukumar, MD and chief investment officer - Franklin Asian Equities, Franklin Templeton Investments says that even though there is a possibility of a correction because of the recent strong rally, the market may not test the lows of 2011 as the risk aversion has abated substantially on a global basis.

Sesa Goa was the biggest loser among largecaps, falling 10% after Vedanta Resources' decision of merger between Sesa Goa and Stelite in last weekend.

Automakers and steel producers also fell as investors took profits after the main stock index posted its first weekly decline in 2012 last week.

Largecaps like BHEL, IDFC, Jindal Steel, Hindalco, DLF and L&T topped the selling list, falling 4-6%

Tata Steel, M&M, Hero Motocorp, NTPC and Tata Power were down 2.5-4.5%. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped 1.6%.

However, Cipla, ITC, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Sun Pharma and BPCL bucked the trend, gaining 0.6-1%.

In the second line shares, Sintex Industries, IFCI, PTC India, HCC and SREI Infra fell 6-8%. Smallcaps like Spanco, Kalyani Steels, Bartronics, Gujarat NRE Coke and Emco lost 7-9%.

At 10:59 hours IST: Sensex falls 1% as crude hits $ 125/bbl: Sesa Goa tanks 9%

The market continued to trade lower for the 4th consecutive session as crude oil prices spiked over Iran tensions. Rate sensitives, capital goods and metals stocks were reeling under pressure. Index heavyweights Reliance and Infosys too were down.

The Sensex fell 181 points or 1% to 17,742.87 and the Nifty slipped 61 points to 5,368.10 as crude prices remained volatile. Brent crude was trading at USD 124.66 a barrel, down 0.54% and NYMEX crude was at USD 109.35 a barrel, down 0.4%.

Rakesh Arora of Macquarie Capital Securities says the chances of the Nifty falling back to 4,800 levels after its recent heady run up is