Sensex tanks 948 points as polls show 'Leave' ahead in Brexit vote

Mumbai: On frenetic selling in early trade today, market benchmark Sensex nosedived by over 948 points to crack the crucial 27,000-mark, while Nifty broke below the 8,000-level after local media declared that Britain has voted to leave the European Union. The camp in favour of Britain's exit from the EU was leading by four percentage points over the Remain camp with over 70 per cent of results declared in the referendum as a BBC forecast said the results were for 'Brexit'.

Consequently, the Sensex plunged by 948.54 points or 3.51 per cent to 26,053.68 with all the sectoral indices led by auto, banking and metal, slumping by up to 4.17 per cent. On similar lines, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped by 294.15 points or 3.55 per cent to 7,976.30. Sentiment suffered a jolt following a meltdown in global equities after referendum result indicated Britain would leave the European Union, triggered all-round selling, dragging down the key indices from their key levels.

Moreover, the rupee breaching the 68-level against the US dollar by crashing 96 paise to 68.21 also had a bearing on the sentiment. Most of the 30-Sensex constituents led by Tata Motors, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Adani Ports, L&t, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, TCS, HDFC Bank, HDFC Ltd, Maruti Suzuki, Coal India and RIL were trading in negative terrain, falling by up to 9.71 per cent.

Meanwhile, Brent oil prices too dived 4.05 per cent to 48.85 per barrel in Asian trade. In Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 3.67 per cent, Japan's Nikkei down 3.05 per cent while Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.33 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, ended 1.29 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.