Asia knocks 2% off Sensex

Indian equity benchmarks plunged over 2% in early trade on Tuesday, joining the slide in other Asian markets rattled by the news of radiation leaks from quake-hit parts of Japan spreading fast.

The 50-share Nifty index was down 137 points at 5392, and the 30-share Sensex was down 452 points at 17986.

Experts say a massive withdrawal of Japanese money from world markets could be underway, as that country prepares to rebuild.

Japan was the worst hit among Asian markets, down 12%, and other markets like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China were down around 3-4%.

Back home, automobile, realty and metal shares took a beating, with the respective sectoral indices down between 2-3%.

"The market will not bottom out till the political crisis plays out completely, and consensus earnings estimates for FY12 crack by 200-400 basis points," said Saurabh Mukherjee of Ambit Capital.

RIL, NTPC, HDFC, Infosys lead

Consistent buying in financial, oil & gas, infrastructure, metal, healthcare, technology and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) companies' shares was supporting the Nifty to hit the 5500 level. The Sensex too was trading with more than 100 points gains at 11:57 hours IST.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries, NTPC, HDFC, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Wipro and L&T gained 1-2%. Among others, ONGC, SBI, TCS, ITC and HDFC Bank gained 0.4% each.

However, auto stocks like Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto were on sellers' radar with 1% fall. After the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on Friday, Japan has been battling hard to prevent a nuclear catastrophe and carry on rescue operations for millions of people without power or water in its worst crisis since World War II. Suzuki is the parent company of Maruti Suzuki, based in Japan.

The 30-share BSE Sensex went up 130 points to 18,304 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 42 points to 5,487. The broader indices were marginally in green today.

India's wholesale price index (WPI) rose an annual 8.31% in February on higher fuel and manufactured product prices, government data showed on Monday. The figure was well above the median forecast for a 7.79% rise in a Reuter’s poll and was higher than the annual rise of 8.23% in January.

Jonathan Cavenagh, senior FX strategist, institutional FX sales, Asia, at Westpac Institutional Bank, Singapore, said, "The data came in stronger than expected, a trend that has been evident in Indian inflation data for much of the 6 months or so."

"Inflation is coming down but not at a pace quick enough for the RBI I would suspect. We have seen Indian equities trade a touch softer after the print but it hasn't been a dramatic move lower. Same goes for the currency. This reinforces our view that the RBI will raise the repo rate by 25 bps this Thursday."

Reliance Capital rallied 6% as Nippon will acquire 26% stake in Reliance Life by investing Rs 3,062 crore. Transaction has pegged Reliance Life Insurance at USD 2.6 billion.

However, Suzlon Enegy was the biggest loser on Nifty with 3% decline.

Breadth was in favour of advances; about 729 shares advanced as against 501 shares declined on the National Stock Exchange.

Nifty gain: Oil & Gas up

The benchmark Nifty started the first day of the week on a flat note with a positive bias, after factoring in the news of the earthquake in Japan. The cooling off crude oil prices was another reason that helped the markets - Brent crude slipped to USD 111.9 a barrel, down by USD 1.94/bbl.

Andrew Holland of Ambit Capital said investor sentiment hit due to tragic events in Japan. Oil price is a key issue for India, he said.

Among frontliners, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Capital, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Suzlon, NTPC, SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, ACC and Tata Steel were leading the markets higher.

However, TCS, Infosys, Tata Motors, Maruti, Cipla, Sun Pharma, L&T, Sesa Goa, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were witnessing selling pressure in early trade.

At 9:17 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained 58 points at 18,232 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 22 points to 5,467,

The CNX Midcap gained 19 points at 7,624. About 348 shares advanced as against 344 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Celebrity Fashions rallied another 8%.

Tata Coffee was up 4.5%. Kingfisher and Jet Airways went up 3% each.

Petronet LNG was up 1.5% and HOV Services surged 6%.

Hotel Leela Venture jumped 2%

JHS rallied 7% and Assam Company was up 1.5%.

However, Wockhardt tanked 10% as Bombay HC admitted winding up petition against the company. Wockhardt is likely to challenge Bombay HC decision.

Japan quake: Sensex 154 points down

Indian equity benchmarks have seen more than 0.8% drop on Friday after an earthquake in Japan, weakened the sentiment further already affected by tensions of Middle East & North Africa. However, the market shrugged off the better-than-expected industrial output data.

An earthquake measuring 8.9 struck off the northeast coast of Japan on Friday, shaking buildings in the capital Tokyo. The quake triggered a 10-metre tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses, cars and farm buildings on fire.

The Nikkei 225 average closed down 1.7% at 10,254.43 points after the earthquake struck. Among other Asian markets - Hang Seng, Kospi and Straits Times went down 1-1.5%. Shanghai and Taiwan were down over 0.7%.

Tsunami warning has widened to include rest of Pacific coast, including Australia and South America, after massive earthquake in Japan. India Tsunami Centre says there are no local alerts yet in wake of Japanese quake.

Deven Choksey, KR Choksey Securities said that the crisis may not have a direct impact on Indian economy and business. However, the Japanese crisis may have a far reaching effect on Indian auto components company.

"Commodities may get affected as crude prices will come down. Sectors like insurance and auto will face disruptions," Choksey.

The 30-share BSE Sensex settled down 0.84% at 18,174.09 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 0.89% to close at 5,445.45. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped one percent each.

Massive earthquake hit the North East of Japan

Japanese television showed cars, ships and even buildings being swept away by a vast wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake.

The quake has sparked fires in several areas including Tokyo, and numerous casualties are feared.

It struck about 250 miles (400km) from the capital at a depth of 20 miles. There have been powerful aftershocks.

The tremor hit at 1446 local time (0546 GMT). Seismologists say it is one of the largest earthquakes to hit Japan for many years.

The tsunami warning was extended to the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Pacific coast of Russia and Hawaii.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the wave could extend as far as Chile.

Tsunami waves hit Japan's Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, officials said, damaging dozens of coastal communities.

Japan's NHK television showed a massive surge of debris-filled water sweeping away buildings, cars and ships and reaching far inland.

Motorists could be seen trying to speed away from the wall of water.

Farmland around the coastal city of Sendai was submerged and the waves pushed cars across the runway of the city's airport.
'Seasick'

The earthquake also triggered a number of fires, including one at an oil refinery in Ichihara city in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo, engulfing storage tanks.

There were reports of about 20 people injured in Tokyo after the roof of a hall collapsed on to a graduation ceremony.

Residents and workers in Tokyo rushed out of apartment buildings and office blocks and gathered in parks and open spaces as aftershocks continued to hit.

Many people in Tokyo said they had never felt such a powerful earthquake.
Map of Japan

In central Tokyo, Jeffrey Balanag said he was stuck in his office in the Shiodome Sumitomo building because the elevators had stopped working.

"There's no panic but we're almost seasick from the constant rolling of the building," he told the BBC.

Bullet train services to northern Japan were halted, rapid transit in Tokyo was suspended and some nuclear power plants automatically shut down.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said there had been no radiation leaks.

In a televised address, he extended his sympathy to the victims of the disaster and said an emergency response headquarters had been set up.

He said the earthquake had a magnitude of 8.4 while the US Geological Survey said it measured 8.9.