Bloodbath continues on Dalal Street

The key benchmark indices slumped once again in mid-afternoon trade on weak industrial production data for the month of August 2008 Capital goods stocks fell. The market had recovered in mid-morning trade from an across the board selling witnessed at the onset of the trading session. The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 859.30 points. A global sell-off in equities on the worries about a global recession created havoc on the domestic bourses.

PSU OMCs slumped. Banking stocks declined. IT stocks fell on Infosys’ weak outlook. ICICI Bank was down more than 20 per cent while Jaiprakash Associates fell more than 14 per cent. Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Communications were down more than 10 per cent each.

India’s industrial production rose at a dismal 1.3 per cent in August 2008 compared to a 10.9 per cent growth in August 2007. Manufacturing grew a poor 1.1 per cent in August 2008 versus 10.7 per cent growth in August 2007. Consumer durables production rose 5.1 per cent in August 2008 verses 6.2 per cent growth in August 2007. Capital goods production rose 2.3 per cent in August 2008 verses 14.7 per cent growth in August 2007. Meanwhile, industrial production growth for July 2008 was revised upwards to 7.4 per cent from 7.1 per cent.