Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Nifty ends at 5450; Japan nuclear crisis weighs

Indian markets ended in the negative territory Tuesday in line with global peers as leakage of harmful radiation from Japan's nuclear plants weighed sentiments.

The radiation levels in Japan have increased high enough to harm humans after explosion at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which was crippled after the devastating earthquake and tsunami last week, said news reports.

Investors were also wary ahead of Reserve Bank of India's meet Thursday. The central bank is likely to hike rates to curb inflation which rose to 8.31 per cent in February against 8.23 in January.

Indian market opened with a gap-down in line with peers but buying activity in heavy-weight Reliance ind helped the benchmarks to pare some of the intra-day losses.

"Gross refining margins are expected to be good around $11.8 for this quarter and there's buzz of advance tax payment as well," said, Anita Gandhi, whole time director, .

Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex ended at 18167.64, down 271.84 points or 1.47 per cent. The 30-share index touched a low of 17920.55 and high of 18326.33 intraday.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty closed at 5449.65, down 81.85 points or 1.48 per cent. The broader index touched a low of 5373.65 and high of 5497.85 intra-day.

"Volatility will continue for next few sessions due to crisis in Japan. There are concerns of harmful radiation spreading further and if Japanese funds start selling actively then it will put some pressure on the market. Market will also keenly await RBI's meet outcome. 5400 looks like a good support and the Nifty may hold on to it," she added.

BSE Midcap Index was down 1.43 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 1.163 per cent lower.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index fell 3.14 per cent, BSE Auto Index declined 2.03 per cent and BSE Metal Index was down 2.02 per cent. BSE Oil&gas Index was up 0.32 per cent.

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