Markets fall to this year’s low on war fears

Stock markets are getting the echo of the booming guns at the Indo-Pak border. The market on Monday turned nervous and settled at its four-a...

Stock markets are getting the echo of the booming guns at the Indo-Pak border. The market on Monday turned nervous and settled at its four-and-a-half month low following the sustained selling pressure in stocks amid the rising tension at the Indo-Pak border.

Recording its fifth straight fall, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index (Sensex) ended with a loss of 50.95 points, or 1.53 per cent, at 3,282.81. The National Stock Exchange’s S&P CNX Nifty also shed 16.25 points to close at 1,074.35.

With this decline, Sensex had lost nearly 148 points in the last one week. “The sentiment remained bearish on account of rising tension at the border. Militants killed at least two soldiers and wounded six others in a series of attacks on Monday, even as Indian and Pakistani armed forces pounded each other’s positions with small arms and mortars in Jammu & Kashmir. Marketmen are worried about the possibility of things going out of control,” said stock dealer R.A. Podar.

The market is also bracing for a long-drawn Indo-Pak struggle this time. While selling pressure was almost across-the-board, buying was seen in the stocks of select public sector undertakings after the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment on Saturday announced that Reliance Industries has acquired the government’s 26% stake in IPCL following its aggressive bid. But the divestment news could not prop up the market.

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