Money on the markets

Bad day for the equity markets as the Sensex plunged 3.5 percent to close at 8779.

The Obama magic failed to enthuse investors which was evident from the 4 percent fall in Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) after his inaugural speech.

And, as if on cue, Asia trailed the US markets down and the Sensex slid as foreign investors remain worried about a fragile world economy and gloomy earnings outlook.

Even IT major Wipro, which met expectations with an 8.7 percent rise in quarterly profit, slipped 3.5 pct as India’s third largest IT outsourcer gave a downbeat outlook.

Index heavyweights like Reliance Industries (down 5.3 percent) and ICICI (down 7.1 percent) added to Wednesday’s woes.

But shares in Satyam gained 3.3 percent, remaining the top traded stock on both the BSE and NSE.

With a gloomy outlook from the companies, have investors started looking for cues from the RBI?

A Reuters Poll today suggested that the RBI was unlikely to cut interest rates at the Jan. 27 policy review. With no good news around right now, do you think we are going to test the October lows again?