Banking and auto companies' shares today plummeted by over 7 per cent on BSE amid a wider bearish market sentiment. Auto stocks declined on fuel price hike worries and on concerns that the government may rollback fiscal stimulus by hiking excise duty in the upcoming Budget,while banking stocks were hit on fears of interest rate hike in view of the rising inflation,said an analyst. The inflation was recorded at 11.49 per cent for the week ended February 12 from 11.05 per cent in the earlier period. Tata Motors stock emerged as the biggest laggard on the 30-share benchmark Sensex. The counter plunged by 7.54 per cent to close at Rs 1,058.25 on BSE. "Rising crude oil price due to the unrest in West Asian countries along with the uncertainty over union budget led to selling across the sectors," Motilal Oswal Securities Manager & Analyst (Derivatives) Bhavin Desai said. Similarly M&M,Bajaj Auto stock and country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki stock,too,ended the day in negative terrain. M&M shed 3.73 per cent,while Bajaj Auto lost 2.07 per cent and Maruti Suzuki 1.71 per cent. However,the two-wheeler giant Hero Honda bucked the losing trend with a gain of 1.61 per cent. The counter had surged as much as 3.73 per cent intra-day,after the FIPB referred Indian promoter Hero's proposal to raise Rs 4,500 crore to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for clearance. Financial stocks took a beating on worries that rising interest rates could slowdown credit off-take. Heavyweight ICICI Bank's shares dipped by 5.43 per cent and emerged as the major contributor in the fall of the bellwether Sensex. The country's largest lender State Bank of India too lost 3.48 per cent,while private sector lender HDFC Bank fell by 2.16 per cent. Meanwhile,the BSE benchmark index Sensex nosedived by 545.92 points to close at 17,632.41 level.
