 "Market loses near 1,400 points in nine days")
• Today the market fell for the ninth consecutive day. BSE Sensex closed near the low of the day at 18,210.58, down 258.78 points or 1.40%, while the NSE Nifty fell to5459.85 points, down 77 points. The Sensex had touched a high of 19,697 on 25 April, a level which is almost 1,400 points higher from the current close. Weak European markets and lower US index futures also dampened sentiment.
• The market breadth, indicating the health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 1,931 shares declined while 867 shares advanced. A total of 128 shares remained unchanged.
[caption id=“attachment_4514” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Slippery track: Bharti Airtel suffered a setback with a 31% decline in profits in its Q4 results. Amit Dave/Reuters”]
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• Metal stocks reversed initial gains onconcernsthat China might introduce fresh tightening measures aimed at controlling prices. China is the world’s largest consumer of copper and aluminum.Interest rate-sensitive realty and banking stocks extended recent losses as the RBI hiked key short-term rates to tame stubbornly high inflation.
• Index heavyweight Reliance Industries reversed initial gains and closed near the low of the day at Rs 946.40. Bharti Airtel declined by 3.45% due to the announcement of a poor set of numbers.
• India’s top bike maker by sales Hero Honda Motors jumped 5.99% on bargain hunting after declining 10.41% in the prior eight trading sessions. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.
• NBFC’s like Shriram Transport and SREI Infra have fallen by 9% and 3.8%, respectively after RBI announced that it is withdrawing the infrastructure status for the industry. Infrastructure status allowed these NBFC’s cheaper source of funds.
• The food price index came down to 8.53% and the fuel price index remained flat at 13.53% in the year to 23 April 2011, government data on Thursday showed. In the previous week, annual food and fuel inflation stood at 8.76% and 13.53% ,respectively. The primary articles price index was up 12.11% compared with an annual rise of 12.08% a week earlier.
• European shares fell on Thursday, with banking shares extending their losses after weak earnings news from Lloyds and Societe Generale. The key monetary policy will be unveiled by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England today. The key benchmark indices in France, UK and Germany were down between 0.14% to 0.79%.