Mumbai, High volatility, following a likely credit crisis in the infrastructure lending and development sector, dragged the market in the red, with the S&P BSE Sensex swinging in around 1,500-point range on Friday.
A plunge of over 1,100 points was witnessed on the BSE Sensex around 1 p.m, only to recover from the day’s low within few minutes. Similarly, the NSE Nifty50 also recovered after dropping below the 11,000-mark.
Analysts described the slump as a result of panic sell-off and said the recovery came on the back of buying at lower levels.
Index-wise, the wider NSE Nifty50 closed at 11,143.10 points, lower 91.25 points or 0.81 per cent from the previous close of 11,234.35 points.
The S&P BSE Sensex, which had opened at 37,278.89 points, closed at 36,841.60 points, lower 279.62 points or 0.75 per cent from the previous close of 37,121.22 points.
The volatility in the market could be judged by a near 1,500-point swing during the day’s trade on the Sensex as it touched a high of 37,489.24 points and a low of 35,993.64 points.
“This negative sentiment led to a plunge in many stocks such as DHFL, Yes Bank, Indiabulls group… Firesale of financial units by IL&FS for repaying its CPs (commercial paper) added fuel to fire,” said Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research.
He further said: “It was basically widespread to multiple companies, specifically to NBFC (non-banking financial companies) space, as there were concerns over credit risk.” Coupled with that, fall in private banks, NBFCs and infrastructure housing finance companies also aided the slump, he added.
The Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) stocks led the sudden fall losing half its share price within few hours during the afternoon session of the trade. It closed at Rs 351.55 on BSE, lower 259.05 or 42.43 per cent from its previous close of Rs 610.60 a share.
Sector-wise, only energy, oil and gas stocks showed resistance while sell-off was witnessed in almost all sectors on Friday. The S&P BSE Energy index gained 35.47 points and oil and gas index gained 221.73 points.
On the other hand, very heavy selling pressure was witnessed in the banking and finance stocks. The S&P BSE Banking index lost 926.19 points, the finance index was down 146.78 points and the auto index down 276.89 points from its previous close.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee closed at 72.20 per US dollar, appreciating 17 paise from its previous close of 72.37 per greenback.
Investment-wise, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 2,184.55 crore and domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 1,201.30 crore.
In a major stock-wise development, shares of Yes Bank lost 28.71 per cent to end at Rs 227.05 per share, after the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday decided not to extend the tenure of the bank’s CEO, Rana Kapoor.
The other major losers were Kotak Mahindra Bank, down 3.86 per cent at Rs 1,179.65; Tata Motors (DVR), down 3.79 per cent at Rs 131.85; Adani Ports down 2.94 at Rs 362; and IndusInd Bank, down 2.38 per cent at Rs 1,761.70 per share.
The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, up 1.95 at Rs 180.10; Wipro, up 1.38 per cent at Rs 337.35; ITC, up 1.37 per cent at Rs 303.75; TCS, up 1.30 per cent at Rs 2,103.80; and Asian Paints, up 1.07 per cent at Rs 1,303.10 per share.
