Sensex plummets 793 points on Budget woes, global selloff; HDFC Bank, L&T, Bajaj Finance among major losers

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex plummeted 793 points on Monday to extend losses for a second straight session, dragged by losses in index major HDFC Bank, L&T and Bajaj Finance, amid Union Budget overhang and heavy selloff in global equities. After plunging over 907 points during the day, the 30-share index settled 792.82 points or 2.01 percent lower at 38,720.57.

Top 5 Losers pic.twitter.com/g24Qx06PMs

— BSE India (@BSEIndia) July 8, 2019

The broader NSE Nifty sank 252.55 points, or 2.14 percent, to 11,558.60. Top losers in the Sensex pack included Bajaj Finance, ONGC, NTPC, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti, falling up to 8.18 percent. Yes Bank, HCL Tech and TCS, however, bucked the downtrend by rising up to 5.56 percent. [caption id=“attachment_6956291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] According to traders, the Union Budget proposal to raise public shareholding threshold and higher tax incidence for foreign portfolio investors and high net worth individuals (HNIs) continued to spook domestic investors. Besides overhang from the Union Budget, domestic equities extended losses tracking a major selloff in global equities, traders said. Other Asian markets ended significantly lower as hopes of steep cuts in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve were crushed after the world’s largest economy posted better-than-expected jobs data Friday. Shanghai Composite Index ended 2.58 percent lower, Hang Seng plunged 1.54 percent, Nikkei 0.98 percent and Kospi tumbled 2.20 percent. Equities in Europe were also trading lower in their respective early sessions. On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated 30 paise to 68.72 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.12 percent higher at 64.31 per barrel.