Indian markets continued their relentless slide, plunging to multi-week lows, influenced by global uneasiness amidst a weakening rupee, as the benchmark CNX Nifty shed a hefty 62 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), here today.
Widespread concerns and a bit of panic hit domestic sentiment adversely, after the rupee breached the 63-mark against the US dollar, despite a series of RBI measures.
Moreover, expectations that the US could reverse its ultra-loose monetary policy, further dampened sentiment.
The market also disappointed on the macro front, with the October trade deficit data jumping to USD 10.5 billion, as against USD 6.76 billion in September this year.
The NSE bellwether lost as much as 3.78 per cent of its value after hitting an all-time closing high recently.
Banking counters were under intense selling pressure, even as FMCG, energy, auto, capital goods and metal stocks fell sharply, though technology and healthcare stocks bucked the general trend, providing some relief to a falling market.
After a sluggish start, key indices lost further ground, pushing them to close below the psychological 6,100 level. Even a brief dramatic bounce-back in the afternoon trade failed to be sustainable.
The 50-share index fluctuated between a high of 6,141.65 and a low of 6,067.75, before ending at 6,078.80, after a sharp fall of 61.95 points, or 1.01 per cent over the last close.
Hindalco, Axis Bank, ACC, IndusInd Bank, NMDC, BPCL, JP Associates, DLF, L&T and IDFC were key index stock losers, while Dr Reddy's, Cairn, Tata Steel, Maruti, HDFC Bank, TCS, Lupin and Infosys were among prominent gainers.
The turnover in the cash segment declined to 10,884.88 crore from 11,421.39 crore last Friday. A total of 5,807.02 lakh shares changed hands in 58,06,832 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 65,53,278 crore.
