Sensex makes 244 pt loss on Friday

Mumbai: Indian equity benchmarks closed Friday's session sharply lower on the back of weak global cues. However, it ended the week with 1.5 per cent gain. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 244.31 points or 1.46 per cent, to close at 16,453.76 and the 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 72.20 points or 1.44 per cent, to end at 4,943.25 on Friday.

The Nifty, Laurence Balanco, Asian technical research of CLSA said, could retest 4,700 in the near-term . "But if you are looking towards the year-end, I expect this base to continue to develop and a break above 5,200 would suggest an upside target of 5,800 before year-end," he added.

It seemed that globally investors are still worried about the implementation of bailout package approved in parliament by Germany on Thursday, though after passing the plan, they were breathing a sigh of relief. European markets were down 1.5-2.5 per cent.

Not surprisingly though, said Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets. "Passing the ruling in German Parliament is only one step. Implementation is the next step and of course that will take time," he believed.

Bill Belchere of Mirae Asset Securities believes that this move will only serve as ‘a salve for a short period of time.’

"This bailout will not really resolve the problem of the medium term fiscal path of Europe," he said. He further adds that the next several months are critical to determine if countries go into recession or escape with a soft patch.

On the home turf, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's shares took huge beating after the CBI said Anil Ambani continued to be under investigation in 2G scam. Reliance Capital crashed 12 per cent. Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Capital lost 7.5 per cent. Reliance Power fell 3.6 per cent.

Banking, metal, FMCG, capital goods, technology, auto and select power stocks too saw selling pressure.

Largecaps like TCS, ITC, Wipro, HDFC, ICICI Bank and BHEL were down 1.5-2 per cent. ONGC and Infosys fell over 0.5 per cent.

Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, SAIL, Tata Motors, JSPL and Kotak Mahindra Bank slipped 3-4 per cent.

However, Sesa Goa was the biggest gainer on Nifty while top loser on the Sensex was Coal India post cabinet has approved new Mining Bill.

Bharti Airtel has outperformed other heavyweights; gained 0.7 per cent. Ranbaxy Labs surged 2.5 per cent.

Volume was quite low compared to previous sessions; total traded turnover on both exchanges was more than Rs 1.07 lakh crore.

The fall in broader indices was much less compared to benchmarks. The BSE Midcap Index was down 0.6 per cent and Smallcap down 0.9 per cent.

About 1048 shares advanced as against 1734 shares declined on the BSE.