Stock market fall: Investors lose Rs 5 trillion in five days

Mumbai, Jan 10 (PTI) Investors'' stock market wealth has plunged by nearly Rs 5,00,000 crore in five straight days of trading, as the market continued its downslide today with a 468-point plunge in the benchmark Sensex.

Barring the first day of trading on January 3, markets have recorded a loss on all days so far in the New Year with the Sensex losing 1,337 points in five consecutive trading sessions.

In the process, the total investor wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market value of all listed companies, has plummetted by nearly Rs 5,00,000 crore and stood at Rs 6,887,194.38 crore at the end of today''s trade.

Out of this, more than Rs 1,00,000 crore has been eroded from the market value of the country''s ten biggest companies alone, which include blue chips like Reliance Industries, ONGC, TCS, Infosys, Coal India and SBI.

The 30 Sensex companies together lost about Rs 2,00,000 crore in the last five days of trading.

The Sensex today closed at its six-week low on continued selling by edgy investors, ahead of third quarter corporate results and weak global cues. Experts said that investors are bogged down by fears of interest rate hike coupled with negative show of global peers.

Reliance Industries, which dropped by over 3 per cent today, has lost approximately Rs 20,000 crore of market value in the past five trading sessions, while losses for the period is much higher at about Rs 25,000 crore for PSU giant ONGC.

SBI has also lost about Rs 20,000 crore in this period, while giants like TCS, Coal India, NTPC, ITC and Bharti Airtel have lost about Rs 10,000 crore each.

The loss is relatively less for IT major Infosys at about Rs 5,000 crore, as investors are expecting good quarterly results, while ICICI Bank has lost over Rs 15,000 crore amid heavy selling pressure in banking stocks.

The market, which had grown by about 17 per cent in 2010, has fallen by about 6 per cent in the New Year, as it could not continue the uptrend beyond the first trading session.

The overall investor wealth had grown by neary Rs 12,00,000 crore in the entire 2010, when the Sensex grew by over 3,000 points.

Markets slip post disappointing IIP result

MUMBAI: At 12.20 pm, Sensex was down 111.05 points at 19085.29 and the Nifty was 24.85 points down at 5729.25.

The dismal industrial output figure of 2.7 per cent in the month of November had its impact on the markets with Nifty erasing all its early gains. Stocks of auto, oil and gas and healthcare firms pulled the markets down.

In the morning session, Sensex recovered by over 183 points in the opening trade, snapping its six-session losing streak, on selective buying by funds, and a firm trend on the other Asian bourses.

The Sensex, which had lost nearly 1,365 points in last six sessions, rose by 183.21 points to trade at 19,379.55 with banking, IT, oil and gas and realty sectors leading the rebound.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty, shot up by 61.65 points to 5,815.75 points.

Marketmen said fresh spell of buying by funds and retail investors, supported by a firming trend on the other Asian bourses after overnight gains on the US market, influenced the trading sentiment here.

They said, however, cautious approach ahead of November industrial output data to be announced today and fears of a hike in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India, capped the gains.

In the Asian region, the Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up by 0.89 per cent, while Japanese Nikkei gained 0.51 per cent in the morning trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.30 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.

Read more: Markets slip post disappointing IIP result - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Markets-slip-post-disappointing-IIP-result/articleshow/7265754.cms#ixzz1AonYOIgP

IndiGo orders 180 airplanes; sets a record in commercial aviation history

MUMBAI: Low-cost carrier IndiGo has placed firm orders for 180 Airbus 320 aircraft at an estimated cost of $ 15.6 billion. The order is the single largest for jets, in terms of volume, to be ever placed in the commercial aviation history.

It is not the first time that IndiGo has placed a brow-raising order though. The Gurgaon-based private carrier created ripples in the 2005 Paris airshow with an announcement to buy 100 A320s. Currently, the airline flies 34 A320s to 25 domestic destinations and plans to go international by August this year.

The airline signed a Memorandum of Understanding for 180 eco-efficient Airbus A320 aircraft of which 150 will be A320 NEO, said an Airbus spokesperson adding that the order was the largest in history. The A320 New Engine Option or NEO runs more efficient engines will be available from 2016 onwards. The aircraft has specially designed wing tips -- called Sharklets by Airbus -- that will reduce the aerodynamic drag which develops at the wingtips of a moving aircraft in the form of vortices. Sharklets will lad to fuel savings of up to 15 percent, which is up to 3,600 tonnes of CO2 annually per aircraft, says Airbus. The Neo will also provide a double-digit reduction in nitrogen oxides and will have a reduced engine noise.

"This order for industry leading fuel efficient aircraft will allow IndiGo to continue to offer low fares," said Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, co-founders of IndiGo. "Ordering more A320s was the natural choice to meet India's growing flying needs. The opportunity to reduce costs and to further improve our environmental performance through the A320neo were key to our decision." John Leahy, Airbus, Chief Operating Officer Customers said: ``The A320 NEO, offering maximum benefit for minimum change, will ensure that this continues to be the case for many years to come. This order positions IndiGo to take full advantage of the predicted growth in Indian air travel." The A320NEO will have over 95% airframe commonality with the A320 family while offering up to 500nm (950 km) more range or two tonnes more payload.

Read more: IndiGo orders 180 airplanes; sets a record in commercial aviation history - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/IndiGo-orders-180-airplanes-sets-a-record-in-commercial-aviation-history/articleshow/7267934.cms#ixzz1Aon4jmSj

Industrial growth plunges to 2.7%

NEW DELHI: Industrial growth nosedived to 2.7 per cent in November 2010 against 11.3 per cent in the same period a year-ago, pulled down by dismal performance of manufacturing sector, particularly the consumer non-durables.

In October 2010, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had expanded by 11.29 per cent.

The industrial growth during April-November of this fiscal stood at 9.5 per cent, against 7.4 per cent in the corresponding period last year, according to an official data released here on Wednesday.

In November, manufacturing growth plummeted to 2.3 per cent against 12.3 per cent a year ago.

The manufacturing consumer non-durables production declined by (-) 6 per cent in the month under review as against a growth of 2.3 per cent in the same period a year ago.

However, capital goods sector posted a growth of 12.6 per cent against 11 per cent in the same period last year.

Besides manufacturing, mining growth also fell to 6.0 per cent against 10.7 per cent in the month under review. Whereas, electricity generation expanded by 4.6 per cent against 1.8 per cent.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said deceleration in industrial growth to 2.7 per cent in November and high inflation could have an adverse impact on the economy and promised to take corrective steps to push up factory output.

"If IIP goes down and inflation goes up, it will have an adverse impact, but I am not coming to any premature conclusion," Mukherjee told reporters.

"We shall have to look into and take corrective measures so that IIP numbers revive in the remaining four months," he said.

Even though part of the deceleration in growth may be because of high base effect of 11.3 per cent in November last year, the Finance minister refused to take it as a consolation.

"Last time, if you have noticed that in november last year it(IIP) was very high, so base effect is also there, but that is no consolation," he said.

With IIP slowing down considerably, the Reserve Bank of India may be in a dilemma on whether or not to raise its policy rates to fight high inflation at the upcoming quarter policy review on January 25.

Read more: Industrial growth plunges to 2.7% - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Industrial-growth-plunges-to-27-/articleshow/7266514.cms#ixzz1AolH50uO