Metals, ADAG shares pull down markets

The markets declined almost 2% due to selling in ADAG shares, roiled by 2G scam and also metal shares, after the Cabinet cleared the new mining bill, calling for companies to share profits.

The Nifty declined 72 points, at 4,943 and the Sensex lost 244 points, at 16,453.

The Nifty opened lower tracking subdued global cues as concerns over how the European bailout fund would help the Greece and other countries from averting a default took the front seat.

The Nifty reversed losses and touched a high of 5,025 in the mid morning session.

However, the index was unable to sustain the recovery and it slipped again to end near the day's low, tracking losses across European bourses.

The Sensex and Nifty were up almost 2% for the week, but posted their biggest quarterly fall in three years, down 12% in the September quarter.

Markets across Asia also posted a quarterly loss.

The Nikkei Stock Average closed flat, at 8,695 and the China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 2.3% as they played catch up after the holiday.

The Nikkei index was down over 11%, while the Hang Seng index plunged over 21% in the September quarter.

In Europe, the FTSE 100, CAC 40 and the DAX plummeted almost 2% each as the Euro-zone debt concerns continued to loom on the investor sentiment.

Back in India, the Central Bureau of Investigations statement on the 2G scam weighed on Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group stocks -- Reliance Communication fell 8%, Reliance Capital declined 13% and Reliance Infrastructure slipped 7%.

Mining shares were also among the worst hit after the cabinet approved the new mining bill which calls for miners to share maximum 26%

of their profits with the locals affected by the mining activities.

Metal shares lost sheen on concerns of impact on profitability after the cabinet approved the mining bill. Coal India plunged 5%, Sterlite Industries and Tata Steel declined almost 4% each.

The government on Thursday said that they would borrow additional Rs 53,000 crore than the budgeted amount for fiscal year 2011-12. Analysts said that signs of slowdown were visible in the economy due to the dip in tax collection and failure by the government in achieving disinvestment target.

Market analysts expect the Nifty to consolidate going forward.

"From technical angle, markets are trading sideways in the range of 4,750-5,180," said Amit Chheda-Head Equity Inventure Growth and Securities.

All the sectoral indices ended in the red except consumer durables, up over 1%. Bajaj Electricals, C Mahindra Exports and TTK Prestige advanced over 2% each.

BSE realty index was one of the worst hit sectors, down over 2%. Indiabulls Real Estate plunged 6%, DB Realty and HDIL lost over 4% each.

Among the Sensex stocks – ITC, HDFC and ICICI Bank were down almost 2% each, dragging the Sensex down over 60 points. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries were the only stocks which ended in the green, up 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.

The market breadth was negative, 1716 stocks declined for 1019 stocks that advanced.