Bears return, Sensex falls 175 pts to 9,822

Dalal Street fell nearly 2 per cent on Tuesday, erasing the previous session8217;s gains, mainly due to weaker Asian markets and persistent investor concerns on rising interest costs and foreign fund outflows.

Dalal Street fell nearly 2 per cent on Tuesday, erasing the previous session8217;s gains, mainly due to weaker

Asian markets and persistent investor concerns on rising interest costs and foreign fund outflows.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex lost 175 points to end at 9,822.52 points. It is down 22.5 per cent from a May 11 peak of 12,671.11. The 50-issue NSE index closed 1.9 per cent lower at 2,861.30 points.

Concerns about rising US interest rates and a slowdown in demand in the world8217;s largest economy spooked Asian markets with Tokyo closing 1.4 per cent lower and Seoul ending 2 per cent down. 8216;8216;The market is taking cues from Asian markets, you can8217;t really swim against the tide in such uncertain circumstances,8217;8217; said a dealer.

8216;8216;Local factors have very little to do with it now, no one really knows what will happen next,8217;8217; he said.

Foreign funds, which have nearly halved investments made this year, bought Indian equities worth 4.8 million on Monday, taking their net investment this year to about 2.7 billion.

The market witnessed intra-day volatility in metal, cement, auto shares and in some pivotals like Reliance Industries RIL and State Bank of India SBI. Selling was conspicuous in IT shares. L038;T plunged in late trading. HDFC and HDFC Bank were weak right from the onset of trading.

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The highlight of today8217;s trading was a good performance of small-cap and mid-cap stocks. Select side-counters surged. BSE small-cap index rose 104.19 points 2 to settle at 5,113.66. The BSE mid-cap index rose 28.05 points 0.67 to 4,211.69. The small-cap and mid-cap segment had witnessed a meltdown in the recent market turmoil.

Investors sold HDFC, whose shares fell 3.8 per cent to Rs 1,012.50, and India8217;s largest private sector bank ICICI Bank which ended 2.1 per cent lower at Rs 489.90. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was down 1 per cent at Rs 924. India8217;s second-biggest motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto fell nearly 4 per cent to Rs 2,618.1.

L038;T plunged 6 to Rs 1,929.50. The stock has lost 8.7 in the past two trading sessions. The scrip currently trades cum-bonus with a liberal 1:1 bonus. Metal shares were volatile. Hindalco lost 2 to Rs 157.05.

Cement shares witnessed a roller-coaster ride. ACC lost 1.5 to Rs 754. The stock moved between a low of Rs 740 and a high of Rs 771. Grasim lost 1.3 to Rs 1,790. It moved between Rs 1,745 and Rs 1,852.70. UltraTech Cement lost 1 to Rs 676.60. The scrip moved between Rs 666 and Rs 698.50.