Sensex ends 274 pts lower, tanks over 1,100 pts in 6 sessions as parliament logjam, commodity slide weigh

The benchmark Sensex came close to slipping below the psychological 25,000-mark towards the fag-end, as frenzied selling on the back of weak global equities continued for the sixth trading session even as investors remained worried over the stalled parliament session and the delay in the passage of the crucial GST bill. [caption id=“attachment_2539126” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] With downward pressure persisting in global commodity markets amid slackening demand and sluggish Chinese economic growth, investors, including in India, turned risk averse leading to across-the-board selling pressure. Opec’s decision on Friday not to cut its production target has sparked concerns global oil producers will pump even more crude into an already oversupplied market. Brent crude futures have fallen almost 30 percent so far this year after a decline of nearly 50 percent in 2014, a Reuters report said. Hazy global economic outlook and nervousness ahead of the upcoming US Fed meet where the first rate hike in nearly one decade looks more certain continued to keep investors on the edge, said dealers. Once again, shares of metals, energy, oil & gas, telecom and automobile shares faced the heat, leading to a near 300 points fall in Sensex. The 30-share BSE S&P Sensex, after touching the day’s low of 25,012.22, concluded the session at 25,036.05, down 274.28 points, or 1.1 percent from previous close. With the markets falling for the sixth consecutive session, the index has so far tumbled over 1,100 points, or 4.4 percent. The broader 50-stock CNX Nifty closed at 7,612.50, down 89.20 points, or 1.2 percent. Globally, other key Asian counterparts such as Japan’s Nikkei fell nearly 1 percent and China’s Hang Seng eased 0.5 percent at close. Major European gauges, too, were down around a percent each tracking weak global markets. Market breadth fared badly as gainers outpaced losers by more than 3:1 with 2,215 stocks declining against 542 advances on BSE. Wide-spread selling in the markets took toll on the second-rung stocks as well, which had managed to resist the fall in recent trades. While BSE small-cap index under-performed the markets, falling 2.2 percent, the BSE mid-cap index eased 1.8 percent. Leading the slump among the Sensex constituents, shares of Vedanta tanked 5.6 percent to Rs 82.25, Tata Steel crumbled 3.4 percent to Rs 226.85, Coal India declined 3.2 percent to Rs 307.65, Cipla lost nearly 3 percent to Rs 623.40, Bajaj Auto shed 2.9 percent to Rs 2,390.45, Hindalco dipped 2.8 percent to Rs 73.75 and Reliance Industries was also down 2.8 percent at Rs 915.95. Among other laggards, shares of Dr Reddy’s, Lupin, HeroMoto Corp, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Maruti, Axis Bank, L&T and sun Pharma were down over 1-2 percent each.