A flash 900-point crash in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index for a brief period this morning and concerns over the fate of big-ticket reforms like raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in insurance, cut short a four-day rally in stock markets with BSE Sensex
falling 120 points to end below 19,000 level.
After gaining around 480 points in past four sessions, the 30-share BSE Sensex index opened higher at 19,115.89 after the government on Thursday
unleashed another round of reforms.
However, the Sensex soon dropped over 200 points mirroring a
900-point fall in NSE Nifty due to a technical glitch caused by sell orders worth Rs 650 crore executed by broker Emkay Global Financial Services. This halted trade in cash market for 15 minutes, hitting investor sentiments.
PERSPECTIVE: What the FDI boost means for pension managersBesides, market participants weighed up the fate of the big-ticket economic reforms announced on Thursday as some legislations are likely to face stiff opposition in Parliament when they come up for passage, brokers said.
The Sensex closed 119.69 points down, or 0.63 per cent, at 18,938.46. The Nifty closed at 5,746.95, down 40.65 points, or 0.70 per cent.
"A healthy up move, on back of fresh reforms, was expected today. However, the initial euphoria evaporated due to confusion from erroneous trades on NSE in morning," said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth & Securities.
PERSPECTIVE: Insurance reforms: What it means for you Importantly, some Bills need to be approved by Parliament before becoming a reality and notably, the main opposition party, BJP, seems opposed to raising the FDI limits, said brokerage Edelweiss in a report.
HDFC, which lost 4.55 per cent, was the worst hit among 30 Sensex stocks amid reports that
global fund house Carlyle has sold a big chunk of its 3.7 per cent stake.
Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, TCS, Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel also suffered losses while Tata Motors, HUL, RIL, L&T and ONGC rose, cushioning the fall to some extent.
Meanwhile, the
rupee traded weaker at 51.81 to the dollar, from its last close of 51.74.
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