New Delhi: Sensex fell more than 1 per cent on Thursday morning, hurt by renewed concerns about the deteriorating US outlook, with Tata Motors dropping 7 percent after its $2.3 billion purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover.
Largest listed firm Reliance Industries and tech bellwether Infosys Technologies fell more than 2 percent each. These two stocks account for more than a fifth of the main index. "Positive drivers seem to be missing for the market. It remains more of a rollercoaster ride," brokerage India Infoline said in a note.
"There is still significant anxiety over the depth and length of the impending recession in the US.
Back home, the local economy is also suffering. Industrial and consumer spending seems to have been hit," it said.
At 1057 hrs, IST, the 30-share BSE index was down 0.92 per cent, or 147.34 points, at 15,939.49, with 20 components falling. It fell as much as 1.27 percent.
The benchmark, which had climbed to a three-week closing high on Tuesday, is down more than 21 percent in 2008. Asian stocks fell more than 1 percent on Thursday as financials slipped on further signs the US economy is flagging and on worries that there will be more bank write-downs after a prominent analyst downgraded four major US banks.
India Infoline said the market was eagerly waiting for corporate results in April and the central bank's monetary policy review at the end of April.
Tata Motors fell as much as 7.3 percent to a one-week low of 630 rupees on concerns about its ability to manage its new luxury brands, traders said. Its New York-listed shares fell 6.8 percent on Wednesday. In the broader market, 1,140 gainers just led 1,072 losers on volume of 77.3 million shares.
The 50-share NSE Nifty index was down 0.54 percent at 4,802.75. Trade remained choppy due to expiry of stock and index futures. The monthly contracts expire on the last Thursday of every month, but most are rolled over to the next series.
By Wednesday, 57.34 percent of contracts had been rolled over. Elsewhere in the region, Karachi's 100-share index was up 0.81 percent at 15,322.39, while Colombo's All-share index eased 0.26 percent to 2,542.81.
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