Sensex crashes over 750 points to close at six-month low of 34,001 on global rout, Nifty ends below 10,300-mark

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex slumped over 750 points to end at a six-month low and NSE Nifty ended below the 10,300-mark on Thursday as global indices witnessed across-the-board losses after investor sentiment was hit by heavy sell-off in world markets. The 30-share index, which commenced with a gap down opening, cracked over 1,000 points, breaching the 34,000-mark and hit a low of 33,723.53, before staging a partial recovery to touch a high of 34,325.09 in afternoon trade. The gauge finally ended 759.74 points, or 2.19 percent, lower at 34,001.15. This is the lowest closing since April 11. It had gained 461.42 points on Wednesday. Similarly, the NSE Nifty settled at 10,234.65, down 225.45 points, or 2.16 percent. It moved between 10,138.60 and 10,335.95 in day trade. [caption id=“attachment_4632741” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] “This sell-off is part of the global sell-off triggered by the sharp cut in the mother market US,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. This is leading to capital outflows from emerging markets (EMs) like India. Apart from the rising bond yield in the US and EM currency woes, there are global trade skirmishes impacting the sentiment, he added. “While most of the earlier fall could be attributed largely to domestic factors, the reason for Thursday’s fall is clearly global with the US markets falling sharply after President Trump’s acerbic comments against the Federal Reserve and the consequent sharp fall witnessed in all the major Asian markets,” said Dheeraj Singh, Head of Investments - Taurus AMC. In an unprecedented criticism by a serving US President, Trump said the Federal Reserve had gone crazy after the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York tumbled by over 800 points Wednesday, the biggest decline in more than seven months. Among the Sensex pack, state-run lender SBI was the biggest loser, plunging by 5.74 percent, followed by Tata Steel 4.60 percent. Stocks of IT bellwether TCS fell 3.10 percent ahead of September quarter earnings to be released later Thursday. Other laggards included Vedanta, M&M, Infosys, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, L&T, Kotak Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India and ITC, falling up to 4.45 percent. Axis Bank, HDC Bank, RIL, Wipro, NTPC, Asian Paint, PowerGrid and HUL also retreated up to 1.45 percent. In contrast, ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex kitty, rising 2.86 percent, while Yes Bank gained 2.54 percent. Stocks of oil marketing companies were in a better shape on falling global crude oil prices. HCPL, BPCL, ONGC and IOC ended up to 14.70 percent higher. Airline stocks continued their rising streak for the second day after the government Wednesday cut excise duty on jet fuel to 11 percent to give relief to the aviation industry. Shares of InterGlobe Aviation zoomed 3.25 percent, Jet Airways soared 1.11 percent and SpiceJet 3.16 percent. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1.78 percent to USD 81.61 per barrel. The broader market also took a beating with mid-cap and small-cap indices falling up to 2.81 percent. Among sectoral indices, the BSE metal index emerged the worst performer by falling 3.77 percent, followed by IT, realty, teck, auto, bankex, healthcare, capital goods, power, infrastructure, consumer durables, FMCG and PSU indices. While, oil and gas index rose 2.28 percent. Overseas, other Asian stocks ended lower after Wall Street suffered its worst drubbing in eight months. Japan’s Nikkei crashed 3.89 percent, the steepest single session drop since March, Shanghai Composite Index dropped 5.22 percent - its worst session since April 2016, while the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 3.73 percent. In the Eurozone, Paris CAC 40 dropped 1.36 percent and Frankfurt’s DAX was down by 1.20 percent in their late deals. London’s FTSE too was down 1.70 percent. In the forex market, the rupee, after hitting yet another record low of 74.50 against the dollar in early deals, turned positive in late afternoon trade and was quoting 24 paise higher at 74.