Early crash takes Sensex losses to nearly 800 pts in two days; rupee, China pummel stocks

Domestic equities showed no signs of pull back, as markets continued from where it left yesterday, with Sensex crashing 477 points in early Friday trade amid broad-based frenzied selling following a rub-off effect of weak global markets sentiment and the rupee’s persisting decline in the backdrop of weakening Chinese currency. Extending its slide, the rupee slipped to 65.81 against the greenback in early trade in the wake of descending Chinese currency Yuan. The rupee’s fall is the lowest since September 6, 2013, when it had hit 66.29/dollar. On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 65.54 to dollar. To make matter worse, weak stock markets compounded by foreign fund outflows, which pulled over Rs 1,008 crore on Thursday, is also keeping the rupee under pressure. [caption id=“attachment_2401846” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] At 10.30 am, BSE S&P Sensex was at 27,244.47, down 363.36 points, or 1.3 percent from previous close. So far, the index has lost 800 points in two sessions. The broader 50-share CNX Nifty was at 8,263.70, down 109.05 points, or 1.3 percent. Market breadth was extremely weak with 1,618 stocks declining against 436 advances on BSE. Weak chinese economic data where in the August factory output shrank at its fastest pace in almost 6-1/2 years added to the local market gloom. According to a Reuters report, the preliminary Caixin/Markit China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 47.1 in August, well below a Reuters poll median of 47.7 and down from July’s final 47.8. Chinese stock markets also felt the heat with the Shanghai Composite index tumbling 3 percent while Hang Seng dropping 2.3 percent in early trade, while Japan’s Nikkei had eased 2.3 percent. Several Sensex components crumbled sharply in early trade. Shares of Gail dropped 3.6 percent to Rs 308.90, Tata Motors eased 3.4 percent to Rs 330.50, Tata Steel lost 3.2 percent to Rs 233.90, Bharti Airtel declined 3.1 percent to Rs 367.70 and SBI was down 2.9 percent at Rs 262.60. Other laggards such as Vedanta, HeroMoto Corp, Hindalco, BHEL, Axis Bank, HDFC, M&M, L&T and ICICI Bank were down around 2-3 percent. Investors also offloaded their holdings in several mid & small-cap shares in the wake of stock market uncertainty and a touch of caution after a sharp surge in last few months. Both the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down over 1 percent each. Surprisingly, Amtek Auto shares bucked the trend and rose 5.5 percent to Rs 67.25, after crashing 57 percent in last four sessions, of which the last two session witnessed a steep 50 percent drop.