Sensex plummets 344 points on global meltdown, F&O expiry

Benchmark BSE Sensex slumped about 344 points Thursday to settle at 33,690.09 on across-the-board selling on prevailing liquidity crunch and fresh weakness in the rupee amid a global sell-off.

October futures and options (F&O) expiry added to the woes as investors offloaded their long bets instead of carrying them forward to the next series for November, brokers said.

During October F&O series, the BSE Sensex dropped 2,634.08 points, or over 7 per cent while the NSE Nifty lost 852.65 points, or almost 8 per cent.

In the forex market, the rupee weakened by 22 paise to 73.38 against the US dollar intra-day.

The 30-share Sensex, after gap down opening at 33,778.60 points, continued to slide and touched a low of 33,553.18, dragged down by all-round selling amid the a sell-off in global markets.

It finally settled 343.87 points, or 1.01 per cent lower at 33,690.09. The gauge had gained nearly 187 points on Wednesday.

Also, the broader NSE Nifty closed below the 10,200-mark by slumping 99.85 points, or 0.98 per cent at 10,124.905. It shuttled between 10,166.60 and 10,079.30 during the session.

Global markets reeled after US stocks plummeted Wednesday as a sharp drop in tech shares and worries about corporate earnings and disappointing outlooks added fuel to the meltdown across the board.

US stocks have been under pressure amid worries over high interest rates, slowing corporate earnings growth and mounting geopolitical tensions over Saudi Arabia.

Bond prices rose, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 3.12 per cent from 3.16 per cent late Tuesday. The slide in bond yields came as traders sought lower-risk assets