Agencies, Mumbai The BSE Sensex fell on Friday to mark its lowest weekly close since January 13 after a sudden slump in Tata Motors and Ultratech Cement shares about 20 minutes before the close spooked investors.
Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.NS) and UltraTech (ULTC.NS) shares briefly dropped as much as 10 percent each, before sharply cutting losses, after a series of shares were sold at lower prices. (Read story, click here) The sharp falls in shares of the two companies sparked reminders of a flurry of erroneous orders for a broad basket of shares placed by Emkay Global that sent the stock market tumbling in October.
Analysts say such incidents can sap the confidence of investors at a time when the RBI has cautioned that further rate cuts are conditional on government action to control India’s twin deficits. “These incidents would affect sentiment of investors and government should therefore bring the physical settlement of derivatives to avoid such instances,” said Kishor Ostwal, chairman and managing director, CNI Research. The BSE Sensex fell 0.57 percent, or 113.79 points, to end at 19,781.19.
It lost 1.6 percent for the week. The broader Nifty fell 0.59 percent, or 35.85 points, to end at 5,998.90, closing below the psychologically important 6,000 level, also ending 1.2 percent lower for the week. The sudden fall in the share prices of these index stocks added to investor worries after Indian manufacturing slowed to a three-month low in January, and Bharti Airtel Ltd (BRTI.NS) missed its earnings estimates by a wide margin. Shares also fell on profit-taking after the BSE Sensex added 2.4 percent in January to post its third-straight monthly gain.
