Sensex drops 251 points as oil stocks slip; logs worst week in 3 years

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex on Friday slumped by 251.33 points to end at 27,350.68 and logged its worst weekly drop in three years on hefty losses in oil&gas, realty and metal shares, amid continued tumble in oil prices raising concern over the strength of the global economy.

As many as 11 of the 12 sectoral indices on BSE ended in the red. Overall, nearly 2,000 stocks closed down while just about 920 scrips managed to close up.

Besides global cues and oil price falling below key US dollar 60/barrel mark for the first time since July 2009, caution prevailed ahead of the retail inflation and IIP data to be released after trading hours on Friday, traders said.

The BSE Sensex, after rising to 27,692.32 in early trade, succumbed to selling pressure in blue-chips and fell to day's low of 27,320.05. It settled at a fresh six-week low of 27,350.68, down 251.33 points, or 0.91 per cent.

The index has dropped by a whopping 1104 points in the past week, its worst show since December 2011, during which it fell in four of five trading sessions.

The 50-share NSE index Nifty also plunged 68.80 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at 8,224.10 after shuttling between 8,216.30 and 8,321.90 intra-day.

"There was weakness across sectors, which was brought about by the global concerns. Markets are concerned about a global slowdown, as reflected in demand from major oil producing organisations. Markets were also cautious ahead of the inflation and IIP data scheduled post-market," said Dipen Shah, Head- PCG Research, Kotak Securities.

Sectorally, BSE Oil & Gas index suffered the most by falling 2.63 per cent. GAIL, ONGC, Cairn fell between 2.5-4.6 per cent. RIL, IOC and HPCL fell in 1.5-2.5 per cent range.

In other BSE sectoral indices, Realty index fell 2.47 per cent, Consumer Durables by 2.28 per cent, Capital Goods by 2 per cent and Metal 1.45 per cent among others.

In the 30-share Sensex pack, as many as 23 stocks closed down. Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, L&T and HDFC were among big laggards. However, gains in Infosys, Maruti Suzuki and Sun Pharma cushioned the fall.

Small-cap index shed 1.50 per cent and Mid-cap index fell by 1.28 per cent, indicating selling by retail investors. Foreign funds continue to remain net sellers on the domestic bourses which weighed on the sentiment and added to the selling, equity brokers said. Overseas investors sold shares worth net Rs 808.27 crores on Thursday.