Markets fall as China data reinforces global growth fears

REUTERS - India's stock markets fell 0.6 percent on Thursday, hovering near over one-year low touched earlier this week, tracking declines around the region after lacklustre Chinese economic data added to heightened worries about the global economy.

Data earlier showed that China's consumer inflation in August edged up more than expected from a year earlier, but producer prices fell for the 42nd straight month, signalling the risk of deflation.

"The major concern right now is spillover of volatility. China and the United States, both are weak and the volatility factor which is affecting them will have a correlation with this," Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas said.

"Globally speaking, a lot of investors are reducing their bets on equities because corrections can extend somewhat."

The BSE Sensex was down around 0.6 percent at 1:30 p.m. (0800 GMT) after earlier losing as much as 1.7 percent, not far from its lowest level since June 2014 of 24,833.54 touched on Tuesday.

The broader Nifty lost 0.7 percent, trading near its lowest level since July 2014 of 7,539.50 hit on Tuesday.

Blue chips led decliners amid continued fears about foreign selling. Clearing data on Wednesday showed foreign institutional investors have sold a net $851.76 million worth of shares so far this month, after around $2.6 billion in sales in August.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp fell 2.2 percent, while State Bank of India lost 2 percent.

(Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Mumbai; Editing by Anand Basu)