Equities reeled under rising concerns over global growth worries and plunged sharply as the NSE benchmark index Nifty today tanked to a two-month low on across-the-board selling amid ongoing earnings season.
The 50-share Nifty dropped by a massive 116 points to settle below the key 7,800 level on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The global economic turmoil has rekindled worries of recession even as disappointing US economic data and slowdown in Eurozone and China fuelled concerns that India's growth recovery may lose momentum.
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Barring FMCG, all other sectoral indices closed in the red. The broader markets, too, saw big cracks with the mid and small-cap indices losing 2 to 3 per cent.
Though the initial mood was calmer after a soft opening, sentiment turned highly volatile towards tail-end trade following weak European cues prompting traders to dump stocks, suggesting a deepening downtrend for a while.
The Nifty swung between a high of 7,893.90 and a low of 7,729.65 before finishing at 7,748.20, showing a slide of 115.80 points, or 1.47 per cent.
Reliance, HDFC, Infosys, M&M, ICICI Bank, SBI, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, UltraTech, Sesa Sterlite, L&T, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Tata Steel, ONGC, Grasim, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, HeroMoto, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, BHEL and NTPC were the major losers.
However, a handful of frontline stocks withstood the selling frenzy and posted gains. These included DLF, NMDC, ITC, BPCL, Coal India and Gail.
Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 17,399.64 crore compared to Rs 15,753.56 crore on Tuesday. A total of 8,487.41 lakh shares changed hands in 78,88,936 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 88,99,320 crore.
