Indian Market Tumbles On Eurozone, China Worries

（RTTNews） - Concerns over the deepening Irish debt crisis and speculation that China will raise interest rates dragged global equities sharply lower on Tuesday. The Indian market was no exception, with the benchmark 30-share Sensex falling about 450 points or 2.2% to 19,865. Twenty nine of its components declined.

However, telecom operator Bharti Airtel bucked the downward trend to end 1.16% higher on a brokerage upgrade.

Frenzied profit taking sparked by a heavy sell-off in the Chinese markets on rate hike concerns and fears that foreign funds may close positions before the year-end dragged the broader Nifty index down by about 133 points or 2.17% to 5,989.

Metal stocks led the declines, as base metal prices eased and the dollar index rebounded, drawing strength from higher U.S. bond yields and a vulnerable euro. Also, many Chinese newspapers have reported that the government will impose price control in commodities to curb inflation. Tata Steel, NMDC, Nalco, Hindustan Zinc, SAIL, JSW Steel, Hindalco and Sterlite lost between 2% and 5.5%.

In the oil/gas sector, heavyweight Reliance Industries fell 2.24%, as oil prices fell to near $84 a barrel in Asian trading ahead of a report from the U.S. Department of Energy on oil and fuel stockpiles.

Among high-beta realty stocks, HDIL, DLF, Indiabulls Real Estate, Orbit Corp and Unitech ended down between 2% and 6.5%.

Jaiprakash Associates （down 4.57%）, Reliance Communication （down 3.72%）, Tata Motors （down 3.65%）, Larsen & Toubro （down 3.53%）, Reliance Infrastructure （down 3.45%）, Tata Power （down 2.91%） and ITC （down 2.83%） were the other prominent decliners. In the banking sector, SBI fell 2.61%, ICICI Bank ended down 1.71% and HDFC Bank slipped 0.67%.

Besides, several mid-cap and small-cap stocks ended sharply lower, as investors took profits ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday on Wednesday. Among the top decliners, Ambuja Cement, IRB Infra, Tech Mahindra, Indiabulls Finance, Hindustan Oil, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Hindustan Construction, Yes Bank, National Fertilizer and Rashtriya Chemicals fell by 4%-8%. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes ended down 2.15% and 2.92%, respectively.

Mahindra Satyam plunged nearly 12% on disappointing results. Hindustan Copper lost 4% ahead of its upcoming follow-on public offering later this month. SKS Microfinance plunged almost 12% on reports that the government will set up a regulatory mechanism for the micro finance sector.

Shipping stocks fell after the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the cost of shipping key commodities, fell over 2% in London on Monday. GE Shipping fell 3%, Essar Shipping declined 2.76%, Mercator Lines slumped 6.43% and Shipping Corporation of India ended down 3.68%.