Sensex slips 415 pts on growth woes

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Sensex closes below the 9,000 markSensex closes below crucial 9,000 levelSensex closes down 94 pointsSensex closes over 150 pts down

Equities fell 2.8 per cent on Friday to their lowest close in more than a week, as renewed worries about the global economy rattled markets worldwide and frightened investors.

Traders said they expected little respite in the near term, with the outlook for shares in export-focused information technology companies dented by diminishing prospects for the US economy.

"The market will continue to be choppy next week in the absence of any positive trigger," said Dipak Acharya, fund manager at BoB Asset Management.

The main 30-share BSE index ended down 2.79 per cent, or 415.27 points, at 14,483.83, its biggest one-day per centage fall since Aug. 21. It fell as much as 3.1 per cent during trade. All but three of the index's components lost ground.

The benchmark lost 0.6 per cent on the week, its third weekly loss in four, and is down about 29 per cent this year.

Petrochemicals maker Reliance Industries dropped 3.4 per cent to 2,079.40 rupees, its lowest close in more than a week, and No. 2 lender ICICI Bank shed 4.3 per cent to 687.15 rupees.

The two stocks account for about 23 per cent of the main index.

Analysts said a slide in crude prices from record highs above $147 in mid-July was a favourable factor for India that imports 70 per cent of its oil, but this was offset by global economic concerns.

V.K. Sharma, head of research at Anagram Stock Broking, said the fall in demand for oil was being seen as a sign of weakening global economy.

Shares in software firms that get more than half their revenue from the United States were among the big losers.

Infosys Technologies fell 4.3 per cent to 1,713.25 rupees and Wipro lost 4.9 per cent to 426.25 rupees. The sector index shed 3.5 per cent.

Edelweiss Securities said it was too early to call a softening in inflation this month as a trend because manufactured products inflation was still on the rise.

Data released late on Thursday showed annual inflation eased for the second consecutive week in late-August to 12.34 per cent as food prices fell, but economists saw no let up in the central bank's tight policy stance as underlying demand pressures remained intact.

Oil prices dipped below $107 on Friday, extending a near 8 per cent fall this week, as traders shed commodities positions to join a dollar rally and on signs that $100-plus prices were crippling demand.