The cup of woes for stocks brimmed over to the fifth day as the Sensex on Monday closed at almost a month low by plunging 296 points while the Nifty languished below 9,900, as global uncertainties roiled the scene amid foreign capital exit. Germany remained in a state of flux though Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term, but has to contend with an uneasy coalition to form the next Government. Asia's shares were a pale shadow of their former selves, which made investors here toe the line. Europe did not offer a promising picture either. Quickly after the start, the BSE benchmark slipped into the red and hit a low of 31,474.56, but bargain hunters ruled for a while towards the fag end. It settled at 31,626.63, down 295.81 points.
The index had lost 501.32 points in the previous four sessions. The 50-issue NSE Nifty was stuck below the decisive 9,900 mark as it tumbled 91.80 points, or 0.92 per cent, to close at 9,872.60 after shuttling between 9,816.05 and 9,960.50.
The closing is lowest for both the key indices since August 29. The currency market lost steam, with the rupee slipping considerably against the US currency during the day. Soaring oil prices, which traded at 7-month high of $56.86 a barrel overseas, made the investors go back to the drawing board. Sentiment has been decidedly low-key for quite some days now as the US and N Korea trade barbs and engage in a game of oneupmanship over the latter's ballistic missile programme. “Weak Asian markets over N Korean jitters to Indian stocks' falls earlier in the day. Second half found some buying though as it had an eye on Government stimulus plans expected late,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.