Sensex nosedives 344 points; Markets resume downward spiral on global meltdown, F&O expiry

Benchmark Sensex nosedived about 344 points Thursday in lock-step with a sharp global market meltdown amid fresh weakness in the rupee. October futures and options (F&O) expiry added to the woes as investors offloaded their long bets instead of carrying them forward to the next series for November, brokers said.

During October F&O series, the BSE Sensex dropped 2,634.08 points, or over 7 per cent, while the NSE Nifty lost 852.65 points, or almost 8 per cent. Global markets reeled after US stocks plummeted Wednesday, erasing all the gains for the year, amid worries about corporate earnings and rising geopolitical tensions.

In the forex market, the rupee weakened by 22 paise to 73.38 against the US dollar intra-day. All the sectoral indices closed in the red, with 22 of the 30 Sensex stocks finishing lower. Bharti Airtel, which was the top index gainer Wednesday, emerged as the biggest loser in Thursday's session, plunging 6.60 per cent.

The Sensex, after a gap-down opening at 33,778.60 points, continued to slide and touched a low of 33,553.18, dragged down by all-round selling amid the sell-off in global markets. It finally settled 343.87 points, or 1.01 per cent lower at 33,690.09. The gauge had gained nearly 187 points on Wednesday.

Also, the broader NSE Nifty closed below the 10,200-mark by slumping 99.85 points, or 0.98 per cent at 10,124.905. It shuttled between 10,166.60 and 10,079.30 during the session. Bond prices rose, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 3.12 per cent from 3.16 per cent late Tuesday. The slide in bond yields came as traders sought lower-risk assets.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 2,040.54 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 1,873.51 crore Wednesday, according to provisional data.

"Markets have been on a downtrend for the entire month with Nifty correcting 7 per cent from 11,000 levels. Macro issues like liquidity crunch created post IL&FS default, INR currency move and volatility in crude oil price have kept the investors at bay;

"NBFC was the worst performing sector for the month. Quarterly earnings have been mixed so far. Investors are advised to focus on specific stocks," said Rahul Mishra, AVP (Derivatives), Emkay Global Financial Services.

Other Sensex losers were Vedanta, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Yes Bank, HDFC Ltd, SBI, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, RIL, L&T, HDFC Bank, ONGC, HUL, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, ITC Ltd, Infosys and PowerGrid, falling up to 3.47 per cent.

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker, fell 0.65 per cent after the company Thursday reported a 9.8 per cent decline in net profit to Rs 2,240.4 crore for the second quarter. However, Wipro, Coal India, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, M&M and TCS finished with gains, rising up to 3.30 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE realty index declined 1.79 per cent, followed by healthcare 1.59 per cent, metal 1.14 per cent and bankex 1.06 per cent. Auto fell 0.96 per cent, PSU 0.93 per cent, power 0.87 per cent, oil and gas 0.61 per cent, FMCG 0.60 per cent, infrastructure 0.54 per cent, teck 0.48 per cent, consumer durables 0.42 per cent and IT 0.04 per cent.

Selling pressure extended to the broader markets, dragging down the BSE small-cap index by 1.32 per cent, while the mid-cap gauge lost 0.37 per cent. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei tumbled 3.72 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.01 per cent and Korea plunged 1.63 per cent. Taiwan too slumped 2.44 per cent.

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European shares, after initial weakness, turned mixed. London's FTSE fell 0.10 per cent, while Frankfurt DAX rose 0.49 per cent in their late morning deals. Paris CAC advanced 1.23 per cent. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.41 per cent down on Wednesday, erasing all gains for the year.