Market review: Sensex slides ahead of Bernanke speech

Indian markets fell in line with European market ahead of an important speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. BSE Sensex closed below the psychological 16,000 mark at a 18 month low of 15,848, down 297.50 points. All the sector indices were in red on Friday, while 27 of the 30 Sensex stocks closed lower than previous day.

[caption id=“attachment_70718” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A number of frontline stocks hit their year low. Reuters”]  [/caption]

Among the BSE index stocks that fell the most was JP Associates which was down by over 7.5 percent, DLF down nearly 6 percent, Tata Steel fell over 4.75 percent while Reliance was down by over 4.5 percent at Rs 719.50.

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Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group stocks were hit the most with Reliance Capital falling by over 12 percent at Rs 344.20, while Reliance Communication fell by over 10 percent at Rs 72.20. Reliance Capital has been replaced by Coal India in Nifty stocks.

A number of frontline stocks hit their year low including State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Tata Steel, Tata Power, NTPC and Jai Prakash Associates.

Market breadth, a sign of the strength of the market was extremely bearish, with five stocks falling for every one that rose.

Realty stocks led the fall with the indices falling by over 4 percent. This was followed by metals which fell by 3.69 percent and oil and gas falling by 3.19 percent.

Tree House made its debut with a subdued listing but by the end of the day closed 12 per cent lower than the issue price at Rs 116.55. The company came out with an IPO at a price of Rs 129 for the retail investors.