As selling pressure gathered force, the market slipped deeper into the red and sent the benchmark BSE index Sensex tumbling down to around 16,075 this afternoon.
Realty stocks continue to bear the brunt of selling pressure. Metal stocks are not far behind in terms of losses recorded today. Bank, auto, power and capital goods stocks have also declined sharply.
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PSU, oil and pharma stocks have come off their highs and a few of these stocks are down in the red with notable losses. Information technology and FMCG stocks too are seen struggling at present.
Besides several large cap stocks, a number of stocks from midcap and smallcap segments too are trading with sharp losses this afternoon.
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The Senex is down 229.17 points or 1.4% at 16,098.67, while the Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange is down with a loss of 72.90 points or 1.49% at 4814.85.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has predicted India's growth for this fiscal at 7.2%, and later accelerating to 8.2% and 9%, respectively, over the next two years.
The council expects a bounce back in agricultural gross domestic product in the next year and maintenance of the desired trend growth of 4% in 2011-12, according to the Chairman C Rangarajan. The high-profile council also expected the industrial and service sectors to continue to expand strongly through both these years and hoped the government's priorities and initiatives on infrastructure would proceed along desired lines.
The council, which has forecast an industrial production growth of 13.6%, feels the government will have to initiate fiscal consolidation as dangers of food inflation is spreading to other sectors.
DLF, Jaiprakash Associates, SAIL and Idea Cellular have lost 4% - 4.5%. Unitech, Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, Reliance Communications, Tata Steel and Tata Motors have lost more than 3%.
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IDFC, NTPC, Jindal Steel, Siemens, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Reliance Infrastructure, Hero Honda, Reliance Capital, Tata Power, Reliance Power, Axis Bank, Suzlon Energy, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries are also down with sharp losses.
