Sensex falls as serial blasts hit IT capital: Banagalore
By ranjanp at 25 July, 2008, 11:36 am
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- India\'s IT Capital hit with serial blasts.
- None of the Islamic guirella groups or maoist insurgents have taken responsibility for the attacks yet.
- Stock markets were down in the wake of the blasts, BSE down 552 points, NIFTY down 118 points.
Bangalore - The IT capital of India was hit by serial blasts today. Various sources put the blasts tally between 7 - 9 as 2 people were killed and several others were injured. Police said the city was on high alert for more attacks, with bomb disposal teams and forensic experts rushed into action. Authorities are trying to determine who was responsible, while IT companies closed early in the city.
Bangalore is home to more than six million people and some 1,500 domestic and foreign firms.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has condemned the serial bomb blasts and urged residents to “remain calm and maintain communal harmony,” a spokesman of the premier said in New Delhi. “The prime minister also expressed grief over the loss of lives and sends his condolences to the families of the bereaved,” the spokesman added.
The blasts sent the stock markets spiraling down. Banking and oil & gas stocks were battered. Small cap and mid cap stocks were relatively affected. At 1:30 pm, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex tumbled 552 points or 3.73 per cent to 14,225.24. The index touched a high of 14,484.39 and low of 14,210.63 in trade so far.
The biggest index losers were ICICI Bank (-10.42%), HDFC (-7.16%), Reliance Industries (-7.13%), HDFC Bank (7.09%) and Reliance Infrastructure (5.68%). Ranbaxy Laboratories (2.81%), Hindustan Unilever (2.26%), ACC (1.49%), NTPC (1.13%) and Satyam Computer (0.99%) were the major gainers.
The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty slumped 118 points or 2.67 per cent to 4315. The index touched a low of 4297.15 after opening at 4440.85.
Sphere: Related ContentTwo of the blasts occurred close to police facilities while another bomb went off in an upmarket city-centre business district. A fourth explosion targeted Koramangla district, which houses several computer software firms. Other blasts were reported from the southern suburbs of the religiously mixed and cosmopolitan city, also the hub of India’s burgeoning outsourcing and software industry, police said. So far none of India’s various Islamic guerrilla groups or outlawed Maoist insurgents have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
