Sensex, Nifty plunge on China woes, Nifty breaks below 7,600

Ending at a four-month closing low, Sensex cracked 555 points or 2.18 percent to close the day at 24,851 after a sharp drop in the index in China, which led to a halt in trading in the market.

Succumbing to the selling pressure, Nifty too ended at 7,568 down 172 points or 2.23 percent.

The domestic equity market continued its bad run on Thursday amid a crack in Chinese equity markets, devaluation of the Yuan and a fresh slump in crude oil and commodity prices.

A crack in global crude oil prices and the commodities market, too, exacerbated investor anxiety, as most fled to the selling counter to cover their losses.

China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, fell USD 107.9 billion in December to USD 3.33 trillion, the biggest monthly drop on record, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The December figure missed market expectations of USD 3.40 trillion, according to a poll. China's foreign exchange reserves fell USD 512.66 billion in 2015, the biggest annual drop on record.