Nifty plunges to multi-month low as Fed scales back stimulus

Stocks crumbled under intense selling pressure to hit multi-month low following the US Federal Reserve's decision to scale back its economic stimulus measures amid fears about growth slowdown in China.
It sent the 50-share Nifty plunging by a hefty 46.55 points, or 0.76 points to conclude at 6,073.70 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
A fresh wave of turbulence in the world financial markets flared up after last night's dramatic US central bank plan to reduce its asset buying programme by a further USD 10 billion for the second month in a row.
Domestic investors pushed stocks to record their worst losses of the year.

Volatility was extremely high due to January F&O expiry as traders closed their long positions.
Financial stocks suffered the worst even as metal, realty fmcg, healthcare, capital goods and infra related sector witnessed heavy unwinding alongwith mid and small-cap stocks.

Against the backdrop of global uncertainty trading got off to a sluggish start and continued its slide throughout the session with the benchmark suffering a big blow to hit the session's lowest point of the day before stocks pulled away after the Finance Ministry assured that all steps would be taken by the RBI and the government to ensure financial stability.

PNB, Bank of Baroda, DLF, SBIN, HeroMotoco, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, JP Associate, Tata Steel and Maruti were the biggest laggards among the Nifty stocks.
The notable gainers included Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Gail, HCL Tech, M&M, BHEL, Lupin, NTPC, TCS and HDFC.
Turnover in the cash segment shot up to Rs 13,966.85 crore from Rs 11,112.44 crore yesterday. A total of 7,448.11 lakh shares changed hands in 57,71,752 trades, while the market capitalisation stood at Rs 65,28,963 crore.