Sensex slumps on liquidity woes

MUMBAI: Equity markets slumped sharply from its days high as renewed concerns regarding liquidity crisis triggered massive selling in the shares of housing finance companies (HFCs) and non bank finance companies (NBFCs).

After opening the day on a positive note, the Nifty plunged 274 points from its intra-day high, but recouped some of its losses to end at 10,453.05, down 131.70 points or 1.24 per cent. The Sensex slumped 382.90 points or 1.09 per cent to end at 34,779.58.

NBFCs shares were battered badly with Indiabulls Housing Finance, DHFL, Edelweiss Financial and L&T Finance Holdings tanking 13.17 per cent, 12.34 per cent, 9.99 per cent and 8.03 per cent on the BSE.

 Meanwhile, the shares of Reliance Capital and M&M Finance slumped over 7 per cent each on Wednesday.

“The Nifty slid below the 10,500 level mark as rise in oil price and volatility in the Indian rupee triggered profit booking. Global markets also remained mixed ahead of the release of FOMC minutes later in the day, which will give a cue about the rate hike trajectory. While the market valuation has moderated to some extent and bond yield has softened, the outcome of Q2 earnings will have a say on the market,” said Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services.

“What we saw on Wednesday was profit booking as the markets have rallied about 5-6 per cent from their recent lows. We expect the Nifty to consolidate in the range of 10,100-10,700 for the next few weeks before giving a breakout on the upside. Currently momentum is seen in the IT and Pharma space while auto and realty trade with negative bias,” said Sahaj Agrawal, analyst at  Kotak Securities.