Sensex Declined 20% From Peak

123jump.com Staff
22 Jan, 2008
New York City

Margin callls, global worries, and lack of retail buyers, all came together for the second day in a row. Sensex dropped 5% or 875 to 16,729. During the day it had dropped as low as 15,332. Finance Minister Chidambaram urged investors to be calm. Sensex and CNX Nifty are down 20% from the peak and midcap and small cap indexes on BSE are down 30%. Reliance industries, ONGC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and ITC led the decliners list in the large cap sector. Bhrti Airtel rebouded 3%.

[R]10:00AM New York, 7:30PM Mumbai – Stocks in Mumbai declined for the second day in a row and are now down 19% in one week of trading.[/R]

Sensex in Mumbai trading fell for the second day as worries related to the U.S. economy mounted. Margin calls on retail investors, lack of new buyers in the market, and selling from international investors pushed indexes lower.

Sensex dropped 4.97% or 875.41 to 16,729.94 after reaching a low of 15,332 or losing nearly 2,274. In the last seven trading sessions, Sensex has lost 19.7% or 4,097.

Of the thirty stocks in the Sensex index, 26 declined, and 4 gained.

CNX Nifty 50 has lost 22.9% or 1,457 in the last seven days and lost today 5.94% ot 309.50 to close at 4,899.30.

Mid cap and small cap indices have lost nearly 30% in the last seven trading days.

Stock trading turnover on National Stock Exchange fell 46% to 44,307 crore rupees and on Bombay Stocks Exchange dropped 26% to 6,846 crore rupees.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that corporate profits are strong and our economy is different from the western world and there is no reason why economies of the west should overwhelm us. He left an impression at the gathering of reporters that investors should not be worried and India’s economy is healthy enough to withstand global slowdown.

Reliance Industries fell 7.6% to close at 2.350 rupees after dropping to 2,120 rupees and ONGC plunged 12% to 975 rupees.

ICICI Bank fell 4% to 1,130 rupees HDFC Bank declined 3% to 1,470 rupees.

Grasim Industries declined 6.1% to 2,840 rupees, ITC dropped 10% to 182 rupees but Bharti Airtel rose 3.2% to 855 rupees.

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 752.89 or 5.65% to 12,573.05, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 2061.23 or 8.65% closed to 21,757.63, in Australia ASX 200 index declined 393.60 or 7.05% to close 5,186.80.

In South Korea Kospi Index decreased 74.54 or 4.43% to close at 1,609.02, in Thailand SET index closed lower 24.99 or 3.26% to 741.54, and Indonesia JSE Index edged decreased 191.36 or 7.70% to 2,294.52. Sensex index in India decreased 875.40 or 4.97% to 16,729.94.