Mumbai: Indian equity benchmarks dropped for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday as hopes of new reforms by the Government waned after the consistent Parliament logjam by the Opposition party BJP since the start of Monsoon Session.
The downtrend was despite the constant inflow of foreign money since July 27; they have bought more than Rs 9,000 crore worth of equity shares till Tuesday.
The 50-share NSE Nifty closed below the 5300 level - for the first time in last three and half weeks - ahead of settlement day on Thursday. The index fell 46.80 points to close at 5,287.80. Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE Sensex lost 140.90 points to 17,490.81, weighed down by oil & gas, steel, capital goods, auto, IT and banks stocks.
Weak European cues too added fuel to the fire. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE declined more than 0.5 per cent as traders looked nervous ahead of a meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.
Back home, Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com advised adding more short positions. According to him, the market is giving clear and simple directions towards the downside."
Companies, which are highly debt-laden and having huge FCCB exposure got slaughtered quite badly. Jaiprakash Associates crashed 9 per cent as traders were worried about its net debt level, a day after the cement maker raised USD 150 million in foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).
Realty major DLF, telecom operator Reliance Communications and educational software services provider Educomp Solutions were down 5-8 per cent. Jain Irrigaiton was down 2 per cent.
Metals stocks widened losses; SAIL and Sterlite Industries fell 5-6 per cent. Sesa Goa was down 5.5 per cent as The Times of India reported that the Goa state pollution control board (GSPCB) has directed Cosme Costa & Sons' Sonshi mine, which is operated by Sesa Goa, to stop dumping at sites located at Vaghuriem and Codierm villages of Sattari taluka.
Private steel major Tata Steel declined 1 per cent and aluminium maker Hindalco Industries lost nearly 3 per cent while Jindal Steel closed with 0.3 per cent gains.
Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto plunged 4 per cent while its rival Hero Motocorp plummeted 3 per cent. State-run oil & gas producer ONGC fell over 2 per cent after research firms downgraded the stock due to CAG report.
Index heavyweights Infosys, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Motors were down 1-1.5 per cent. Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank slipped over 0.5 per cent. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel tumbled 2.7 per cent.
The BSE Midcap Index was down 0.5 per cent and Smallcap fell 0.85 per cent. About two shares declined for every share advancing on the National Stock Exchange.
In the second line shares, IVRCL, Lanco Infratech, HDIL, SKS Microfinance, Manappuram Finance, Pantaloon Retail and Mastek plunged 4-10 per cent.
HCL Infosystems lost 10 per cent after the company denied stake sale news. Wockhardt rebounded with 7 per cent gains.
Standard Chartered moved up 5.6 per cent after the SEBI allowed partial flexibility for IDR investors. Deccan Chronicle gained 5 per cent for the third consecutive session.
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