The domestic equity bourses on Thursday witnessed a complete trend reversal in the afternoon session after trading firm and positive for the better part of the trading session in line with major Asian markets. The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), after opening the day with an upward gap of 209.67 points at 14,458.33 points, retreated to a low of 14,128.72 points as concerns regarding the crisis at the Centre over the Indo-US nuclear deal escalated. Finally, the benchmark index ended the day at 14,163.98 points, losing 84.68 points or 0.59%.
On the other hand, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended the day at 4,114.95 points, losing 38.2 points or 0.92%. Meanwhile, Nifty August futures closed at 4,113.80 points, with a marginal discount of 1.15 points to spot Nifty.
In a positive development, foreign institutional investors (FIIs), after remaining net sellers in the last 8 trading sessions, have turned net buyers on Thursday. As per provisional figures provided by the stock exchanges (SEs), FIIs were net buyers worth Rs 274.64 crore on the domestic equity bourses. Anil Advani, Head of Research, SBICAP, said, ?Any kind of uncertainty normally results in the market losing momentum. The political uncertainty at the Centre between the UPA and Left parties played spoilsport on the market in spite of global cues showing a positive momentum.?
Meanwhile, raising further concerns on the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, Lehman Brothers, through a press release, has announced that the market condition has necessitated a substantial reduction in its resources and capacity in the sub-prime space. As a result, the firm is closing its US-based subsidiary BNC Mortgage LLC .
However, on Thursday, Asian markets were in a buoyant mood following Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision to keep interest rates unchanged due to the current market turmoil. The Nikkei 225 surged by 415.68 points or 2.61% to close at 16,316.32 points. The Shanghai Composite rose by 52.42 points or 1.05% to close for the first time above the 5,000 levels at 5,032.49 points. The Hang Seng closed at 22,966.97 points gaining 620.09 points or 2.77% while Taiwan Weighted was up by 239.38 points or 2.82% at 8,732.84.
The market breadth, which was positive in the initial hours of trading, sank deep in the red with 1,702 stocks losing ground when compared to 905 stocks advancing. Among the Sensex pack, 15 stocks advanced while the rest ended the day in the red. Major gainers on Thursday were ACC, Ambuja Cements, ITC Ltd, Maruti Udyog, Satyam Computers and Infosys.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Bankex was the biggest loser, down 163.63 points or 2.21% at 7,224.29 points while the BSE Metal index lost 88.93 points or 0.88% at 9992.40. The BSE FMCG index ended at 1,841.90 points, gaining 20.49 points or 1.11%, while the BSE IT Index closed with a marginal gain of 7.75 points or 0.18% at 4356.28.