Sensex tanks 287 points on global sell-off

Continuing its slide for the fourth straight session, the BSE Sensex Tuesday slipped over 287 points to end at almost seven-month low of 33,847.23, tracking sluggish trend in global markets on geo-politial tensions and fresh worries over trade war amid weak rupee.

However, short-covering by speculators towards the fag-end helped both the key indices to trim losses.

The rupee depreciated to 73.82 (intra-day) against the US dollar, which too had a negative influence.

The 30-share index closed down 287.15 points or 0.84 per cent at 33,847.23 after hitting a low of 33,742.75. This is the weakest closing since April 10 last, when it settled at 33,880.25. The index had lost 1,028 points in the previous three sessions.

The broader NSE Nifty too fell below the 10,200 level by dropping 98.45 points, or 0.96 per cent, to end at 10,146.80. Intra-day, it touched a low of 10,102.35.

Overall market sentiment remained weak largely in sync with other Asian markets, tracking overnight losses at the Wall Street as caution grew ahead of a slew of earnings reports this week, brokers said.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares of Rs 511.91 crore Monday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 303.21 crore, as per provisional data.