Mumbai: Indian stock markets plummeted to multi-week lows following global jitters after Wall Street's sharp overnight sell-off and a sharp fall of rupee. Extending losses for a second day, Nifty tumbled by a hefty 118.70 points, or 1.54 per cent to finish at 7,602.60 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on August 1.
Extreme caution resulted in intense profit-booking against the backdrop of geopolitical headwinds as US stocks posted worst one-day fall this year. Heightened worries about Europe's economy in the midst of Argentine default sparked renewed fears about financial crisis in the region. Continued selling by overseas investors and corporate earnings too weighed on the sentiment.
The spontaneous panic selling pulled down all sectoral indices with energy stocks leading the pack, followed by financials, technology, healthcare, auto, metal and infra, though mid-cap and small-cap companies also saw intense selling. After a disastrous start, bourses remained under intense selling pressure throughout the session, though they made a failed attempted to bounce back in mid-afternoon trade before concluding with heavy losses. Selling seems to be triggered by foreign investors selling and some kind of knee-jerk reaction to the global markets, though a deeper correction is healthy for market after its record run last week, a floor trader said.
The biggest Nifty losers included Reliance, HDFC, TCS, ITC, HDFC Bank, L&T, ONGC, Tata Motors, Infosys, Hindalco, Sun Pharma, M&M, Kotak Bank, Sesa Sterlite and NTPC. Bank of Baroda, Maruti, DLF, Ultracemco, Bharti Artel, Hindunilver, Heromotoco, ICICI Bank, SBIN and PNB were among the key heavyweight stocks which withstood market storms. Turnover in the cash segment dropped to Rs 18,734.1 crore from Rs 22,637.67 crore yesterday. A total of 9,611.77 lakh shares changed hands in 74,95,070 trades, while total market capitalisation stood at Rs 87,20,183 crore.
