The BSE benchmark Sensex on Monday plunged over 365 points on heavy selling triggered by a steep fall in domestic industrial growth and weak trend in global markets on renewed concerns of euro-zone debt crisis.
The BSE 30-share barometer dropped 365.23 points, or 2.17 per cent to 16,501.74, with all sectoral indices falling by up to 3.43 per cent. It touched the day’s low of 16,393.04.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped below the 5,000 level, losing 112.65 or 2.23 per cent to 4,946.80. Intra-day it dipped to 4,911.25.
Trading sentiment turned bearish as the country’s industrial growth fell to a meagre 3.3 per cent in July as against 9.9 per cent in the same month last year.
Asian markets also slumped on renewed concerns that Greece would default on its debt repayments amid a warning from Germany, on top of ongoing debt crisis in other euro-zone nations. Big losses in Europe and the U.S. have fuelled the selling pressure among foreign investors, brokers said.
Barring three — Cipla, Sun Pharma and Hindustan Unilever — all the index-kitty stocks ended with losses. Major losers were stocks of Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, BHEL, ICICI Bank, SBI, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Steel, TCS and Wirro.
Besides industrial stocks, the banking sector was under pressure on fears of more hike in interest rate by the Reserve Bank in its policy review on September 16 to tame rising inflation. The bank has increased rates 11 times since March, 2010, making loans costly for industry as well as consumers.
Steelmakers declined for the second straight session on forecast that demand this fiscal may grow at a slower pace.
