Reference Auto

The stock markets just seem to be getting no proper trigger to go on an upward journey, and this time, Japan’s severe earthquake and tsunami are likely to give another jolt to India’s bourses, at least in the short term.

Japan is a country that has always stood up to devastations like high-magnitude earthquakes. But this time, the tsunami that followed devastated the North East of Japan, leading to explosions in nuclear plants, which are still to be doused.

Though the areas around the nuclear plants (up to 30 km radius) have been evacuated, there are fears that the situation could escalate. All these developments are surely going to put Japan into recession, at least in the short to medium term.

Meanwhile, the Benchmark index, the Sensex, fell for the second week, ending almost one per cent (153 points) lower last Friday.

The Sensex slid 1.7% or 312.36 points at 18,174.09 points during the week and the 50-share NSE Nifty also tanked 1.7% or 93.3 points to close at 5,445.45.

Some key indices were also down. The BSE Capital Goods Index fell 3% and Metal Index was down 2.8%. Banking, Auto and IT indices also fell 1-2%. Only Oil and Gas Index rose (by 1%).

Among major stocks, BPCL, Tata Steel, Bhel, State Bank and TCS slid 5-6% while Axis Bank, Maruti, L and T, Sterlite, HUL, Cipla and HDFC were down 3-4.5%.

The Nifty Junior and BSE Small-cap indices also fell 1%. CNX Mid-cap Index was down marginally by 0.6%. But Tata Coffee surged 50% owing to rise in coffee prices in global markets. Oswal Chemical followed suit, rising 36%. There was heavy selling in metal, technology, IT, power, and consumer goods products.

Among Asian peers, the Japanese Nikkei fell 1.72 per cent at 10,254.40 points after the earthquake hit just before closing hours last Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.55 per cent at 23,249.80 points and China’s Shanghai Composite index ended 0.79 per cent lower at 2,933.80 points.

The stock markets will remain subdued for quite some time now. The Budget had somewhat provided a trigger but the bourses were let down by the crisis in Egypt that infected parts of the Middle East, including Libya and Bahrain, triggering fears of flaring oil prices.

Now the Japan quake has come as an added dampener and could keep the bourses subdued for quite a while. Also, in the near term, there are unlikely to be any triggers to spur the markets.

So, the bourses could slide in the short term at least, providing an opportunity for investors to cash in on the gloom and pick up some hot stocks at rock-bottom prices.