Sensex ends 151 pts lower; L&T, Bharti slide 3-3.5%

It was a disappointing session on Dalal Street. After remaining choppy in the first half of the session, the market took a late dive. This as disappointing earnings from the likes of L&T , JSW Steel and Idea hurt sentiment.

However, indices managed some recovery in last minutes of trade and settled the trade 0.8% lower. The sell-off in oil & gas, metal, FMCG, power, telecom and private financial companies' shares too added fuel to the fire.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 151.25 points, to close at 16,785.64 and the 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 41.95 points, to end at 5,049.95. For the week, the benchmarks lost over 1.5%.

According to Devangshu Datta, Consulting Editor of Outlook, the market will not drop below 4950-4925 till the expiry on Tuesday.

Overall the market has seen consolidation on Friday, ahead of three events next week: RBI policy (Tuesday), F&O expiry also (Tuesday), and European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) meeting has been postponed till Wednesday after split between Germany and France over bailout plan.

Europe's efforts to solve its escalating debt crisis plunged into disarray as Germany and France could not bridge their differences in time for a summit on Sunday, forcing them to call a second meeting on Wednesday. Yesterday Offices of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced they needed more time.

The situation in Europe will define market moves, believes Archie Hart of Investec Asset Management.

The rupee too is on a weak wicket a fall in risk appetite takes the rupee to a 30-month low of 50 to the dollar.

Brijen Puri, head of FX trading at JPMorgan said that the market may actually push the dollar higher if it doesn