Sensex slumps 500 points on China's stock market collapse

Markets tumbled in today’s session with Sensex dropping 500 points on collapse in the Chinese equities amid the ongoing Greece crisis. The sharp sell-off among the metal stocks on easing of commodity prices dragged the benchmark indices lower.

Provisionally, the Sensex  lost  520 points to end at 27,652 and the Nifty slumped 159 points to close at  8,351.

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(updated at 2:20PM)

The markets are in a state of turmoil this afternoon as the meltdown in Chinese markets have had a domino effect on Asian bourses, including India. The lingering uncertainty on the Greece front have also kept the market participants on tenter-hooks.

At 2.20pm, the Sensex was down 390 points at 27,781 and the Nifty was down 123 points at 8,387.

The broader markets are also in the doldrums; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have shed around 1% each at 10,918 and 11,389 respectively.

The market breadth is negative, with 1,812 declines against 781 advances on the BSE.

Chinese stocks dived 6.2% on Wednesday after the securities regulator said the tumbling stock market in the world's second-biggest economy was in the grip of "panic sentiment" as investors ignored a battery of support measures from Beijing. The move by the Chinese regulator to tighten margin trading and short selling rules, making it difficult for investors to borrow money to play the market, was the immediate trigger for the mayhem on Chinese bourses. The Greek saga also continues to dominate the headlines; the Greek government has received another lifeline and Athens has to now submit a set of proposals by Sunday, failing which the ‘Grexit’ may happen sooner than later.

Meanwhile, all eyes are set for the US Fed minutes meeting due later during the day for clues on the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

RUPEE

On the currency front, the rupee opened at 63.58, depreciating by 12 paise against the US dollar.

CRUDE OIL

Oil futures steadied early on Wednesday on an expected drop in US inventory, but worries over the Greek debt crisis and China's stock market turmoil dragged on prices. The crises are weighing on the oil prices that are already burdened by oversupply in the market.

GLOBAL MARKETS

There was bloodbath across Asia, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closing at its lowest level since February 2014. The Hang Seng dived by 6.6% at 23,428 and Shanghai plumetted by 6% at 3506. The Nikkei and Taiwan Weighted indices lost around 3% each, while the Straits Times, Kospi and SET Composite have shed about 1% each.

However, the European markets have stabilised in this session, with the FTSE, cac and DAX edging higher by 0.3% in early trades.

SECTORS & STOCKS

All the sectoral indices are in the red this afternoon, with auto, metal and banking counting among the major losers. All the Nifty-50 stocks are trading in the red, barring six stocks. Blue-chips such as Vedanta, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Hindalco, HDFC, State Bank of India and Infosys are among the major losers on the BSE.

The BSE metal index has plummeted by around 4%, tracking stock market crash in China and in wake of the fact that LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME) dipped by 4% on Tuesday. The base metal prices crashed on Tuesday as the dollar became stronger following Greece cues. Copper prices dived 6% while Nickel plunged 10% on London Metal Exchange. Aluminium was down to a six-year low. Vedanta has nosedived by 8%, while Hindalco, Tata Steel, NMDC, JSW Steel and Hindustan Zinc have shed 2-4% each.

In the Auto pack, Tata Motors has shed 5.5% to Rs 405, also its 52-week lows, on concerns about a slowdown in China, which is the biggest market of Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). Maruti, M&M and Hero Motocorp have also shed around 1-0.6% each.

Banking shares are also trading lower amid the Greece and Chinese crisis. HDFC twins, SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank have  shed 1-3% each on the Sensex.

TCS has shed 0.7% at Rs 2,599 ahead of its Q1 results scheduled to be announced on Thursday, kicking off the corporate earnings results season.

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, ONGC, Wipro and Hero Motocorp are trading with mild gains.

In the broader markets, Titagarh Wagons has surged 7% on the NSE after the company announced that it has received an industrial license for manufacturing defence items. Crompton Greaves has jumped by 4% on the BSE, after the company announced that it has signed a global supply agreement with cement major Lafarge for electrical motors. Vascon Engineers surged nearly 9% on the BSE after the company in a release said that it has won orders worth Rs 286.11 crore.