Stock rout pulls rupee down, gold shines on Mid-East tension

Markets collapsed like a pack of cards as the Sensex crashed below the 26,000-mark by sinking almost 538 points, its worst fall in more than three months, hit by a China sell-off and geo-political tension in the Middle-East, with the rupee plunging 47 paise against the dollar.
As a result, gold glittered on its safe-haven appeal.
The total investor wealth, measured in terms of the collective value of all listed stocks, fell to Rs 99,39,378 lakh crore, down from Rs 100.93 lakh crore at the end of last trading session on Friday.
The benchmark Sensex ended the day lower by 537.55 points, or 2.05 per cent, at 25,623.35 as jittery investors sold off shares across all sectors, including banking, auto, capital goods, realty and healthcare.

The index's slide, hurt by weak Asian cues following worries over China slowdown and a fall in the yuan, was its steepest since 541-point fall on September 22 last year.
The barometer had gained about 201 points in the past two sessions.

The broader NSE Nifty cracked below the 7,800-mark by tanking 171.90 points, or 2.16 per cent, to 7,791.30 at the close.
Brent oil prices rose 1.64 per cent to USD 37.89 a barrel in Asian trade. This too had an effect on Indian stocks and the rupee, said analysts.
In line with stock markets, the rupee too turned weak and depreciated 47 paise to close at 66.61 against the dollar at the forex market -- a two-week low.

Capital outflow worries amid heavy demand for the US currency from importers also weighed on sentiment.
Other Asian stocks, which opened today after a long break, were at the receiving end after a private survey showed that Chinese factory data contracted for the 10th straight month, which fell to 48.2 in December from 48.6 in November.
Consequently, the Shanghai index plunged more than 7 per cent and trading was halted for the rest of the day.
In other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei tumbled 3.06 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.68 per cent. Europe too felt the heat of the China sell-off in early trade.

A diplomatic flare-up in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran following a row over Tehran's execution of a Shiite cleric made the picture cloudy.
All this meant that gold soared on the back of its safe-haven appeal. The commodity closed Rs 195 higher at Rs 25,615 per 10 gram in Delhi's bullion market after the precious metal gained 0.9 per cent to trade at USD 1,070.27 in Singapore, while in London, it was trading 1.17 per cent higher at USD 1,073.40 an ounce.
In Mumbai, standard gold (99.9 per cent purity) shot up Rs 295 to end at Rs 25,460 per 10 grams while in Chennai, it climbed Rs 310 to Rs 25,690.