Mahurat trading

Mahurat trading is the auspicious stock market trading for an hour on Diwali (Deepawali), the biggest festival for Hindus.

Sensex Biggest fall in Indian stock market history

The rise and fall of the Sensex has been dizzying. The markets are back to the point it scaled three years ago. . . The BSE Sensex on Friday crashed by 1,071 points to close at 8,701 points. This has been an incredible year for the markets, after scaling the 21,000 peak in January 2008, the markets are at 8,000 now.

The Sensex plunged by 1070.63 points (10.96 per cent) to close at 8,701.07. The National Stock Exchange's Nifty ended at 2,557.25, down 13.11 per cent or 386 points. The BSE Midcap closed 8.38 per cent lower and BSE Smallcap Index ended 7.66 per cent down.

On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India gave the markets its biggest blow as it left key interest rates unchanged and lowered the GDP target to 7.5-8% for 2008-09.

Markets across the globe crashed on Friday. Japan's Nikkei shed 9.6% (812 points) to 7,649. Hang Seng plunged 6% (822 points) to 12,939. The Seoul Composite index tumbled 10.5% (111 points) to 939.

The worst hit stocks were DLF, Ranbaxy Laboratories Hindalco Industries, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries and Mahindra & Mahindra.

On Thursday, stock markets plunged following sustained capital outflows, shaky global markets, poor company results, and the International Monetary Fund's warning that economic growth in advanced nations will be close to zero. The BSE Sensex fell by 398.20 points, or 3.92%, to fall to 9,771.70.

Gold crashes ahead of festivals

Spot gold prices hit a one-year low and slipped below Rs 12,000 per 10 gram in Mumbai while spot gold in London hit a 13-month low of $703.45 an ounce on a wave of long liquidations in the international markets exacerbated by below expected gold sales ahead of Diwali in India, the world’s largest consumer of the metal.

Local gold spot prices fell by 2-3% on Thursday in line with the trends in world markets. Experts said a rising dollar vis-à-vis euro & pound and flight of cash-strapped investors looking to liquidate their position in all commodities pulled down gold.

The euro fell to the lowest in almost two years against the dollar, while the pound traded near its lowest in more than five years. Spot gold traded at Rs 11,640 per 10 gm in Mumbai on Thursday, down by nearly Rs 300 and Rs 11,541 per 10 gm in Ahmedabad, down by Rs 600 per 10 gram over the previous day. On the MCX platform, gold December futures also fell to the day’s low of Rs 11,601 per 10 gram, down by nearly Rs 900 over the previous day.

As the prices of the noble metal fell, gold exchange traded funds (ETFs), once among the top performing funds, too slipped to the bottom. Valueresearchonline.com data shows gold ETFs have given a negative monthly return of 5.93%. Annual returns are still positive, at 22.70%.

The softening of gold prices could not have come at a better time for festival buyers in India. After months of waiting, buyers thronged jewellery shops to make their yearly purchases. Traders said prices inching below the psychological mark of Rs 12,000 per 10 grams should spark good demand ahead of two busiest buying days for precious metals next week.

India imports about 700 tonnes of gold a year, with more than 50% bought in the festival season of October-December.

“Gold price in the international market may now see the $650-level”, said Bhargav Vaidya, a leading bullion expert.

Samir Shah of Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Ltd also said, “Price may slip below $700 an ounce. Gold spot prices in the physical market are expected to fall in the run-up to the Dhanteras and Diwali festivals next week.”

In some cities, such as Udaipur and Indore, sales were in line with the trend of the previous years but in some other places like Ahmedabad and Mumbai, sales were just half of what they were last year, sources said. Silver also eased on lack of industrial demand.

Rupee falls to record low of 50.15 per dollar

The Indian rupee opened trade on Friday at a record low of 50.15 per dollar, weighed down by heavy losses in Asian stocks which raised worries of more outflows from the local share market.

At 9 a.m. (0330 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 50.00/15 per dollar, compared with 49.81/82 at close on Thursday.

Asian stocks fell on Friday, led by a 4% drop in Japan's Nikkei, as the global economic slowdown slashed earnings prospects for an array of companies, forcing investors to look to safer government bonds

Another black friday - Sensex below 9000, down 900 pts

The markets refused to relent despite the finance minister's appeal to investors to take informed decisions and not sell in panic.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the RBI's policy decision to keep rates steady was on expected lines. He said the RBI would infuse liquidity and if required, would adopt conventional and unconventional tools.

Chidambaram said, RBI will continue to manage financial price stability along with sustainable growth. He asked investors to remain calm and not resort to panic selling in the market. At 1:25 pm, Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex slumped 776.19 points to 8995. The index plummeted to a low of 8,940.48 in trade so far.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty tumbled 8.48 per cent or 249.7 points to 2693.45. The low, so far, was 2661.45.

Among frontline stocks, Hindalco Industries (-19.15%), Mahindra & Mahindra (-12.07%), Tata Motors (-12.05%), Tata Steel (-11.78%) and Reliance Infrastructure (-10.52%) were under severe pressure.

There were no gainers in the 30-share index. Market breadth was extremely negative with 2095 declines outnumbering 335 advances

Sensex below 10,000

The benchmark Sensex dipped below the 10,000 mark on selling by funds at mid-session after opening on a strong note.

The 30-share index, which opened higher by 205 points, fell by 314.69 points to 10,266.80 at 1330 hrs.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty, which gained 66.65 points at the initial stage, plunged by 98.15 points at 3,171.15 points.

Barring technology majors Satyam Computers and Tata Consultancy Services, all other 28 index participants were in the red.

Oil falls below $78 on recession fears

Oil prices fell below $78 a barrel Wednesday in Asia on concern a massive bank bailout by the U.S. and Europe won't keep the global economy from slipping into a severe slowdown that would erode crude demand.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery was down 98 cents to $77.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract fell overnight $2.56 to settle at $78.63. Oil prices have fallen by 47 percent since peaking near $150 a barrel in mid-July.

"People are worried that the world economy is heading for recession," said Gerard Rigby, an energy analyst at Fuel First Consulting in Sydney. "The bailout may save the banks, but companies are still laying off workers and demand is going to suffer."

The U.S. plans to spend as much as $250 billion this year of a $700 billion bailout buying stock in private banks, President George W. Bush said Tuesday. Governments across the globe have pledged more than $3 trillion to prop up ailing banks in a bid to stabilize a credit crisis that began last year in the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market. Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said Tuesday the U.S. and Europe face a "considerable recession."

"The banks might be ok, but the rest of the economy needs help as well," Rigby said.

Investors are watching for signs of slowing U.S. demand in the weekly oil inventories report to be released Thursday from the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. The petroleum supply report was expected to show that oil stocks rose 3.1 million barrels last week, according to the average of analysts' estimates in a survey by energy information provider Platts.

The Platts survey also showed that analysts projected gasoline inventories rose 3.1 million barrels and distillates went down 850,000 barrels last week. Crude stocks have grown as oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico that were shut down by Hurricane Ike last month begin operations again.

"There is some demand destruction in that forecast, but there's also hang over from the hurricane as refineries come back on line," Rigby said.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 2.26 cents to $2.2823 a gallon, while gasoline prices fell 0.34 cent to $1.8814 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery rose 0.05 cent to $6.732 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, November Brent crude was down 84 cents to $73.69 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Source: Associated Press