Sensex plunges 760 pts on heavy global sell-off
Nifty makes its decade-worst start to October quarter.
Mumbai: The Sensex slumped over 750 points to end at a six-month low and NSE Nifty ended below the 10,300 mark on Thursday as global indices witnessed across-the-board losses after investor sentiment was hit by heavy sell-off in world markets.
The 30-share index, which commenced with a gap down opening, cracked over 1,000 points, breaching the 34,000-mark and hit a low of 33,723.53, before staging a partial recovery to touch a high of 34,325.09 in afternoon trade.
The gauge finally ended 759.74 points, or 2.19 per cent, lower at 34,001.15. This is the lowest closing since April 11. It had gained 461.42 points on Wednesday.
“This sell-off is part of the global sell-off triggered by the sharp cut in the mother market US,” said V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial.
This is leading to capital outflows from emerging markets (EMs) like India. Apart from the rising bond yield in the US and EM currency woes, there are global trade skirmishes impacting the sentiment, he added.
Meanwhile, the Nifty is off to its weakest start to the October quarter since 2008 after a global sell-off on Thursday further dented investor sentiment just as the Indian economy enters its peak-demand festive season.
Across the globe, share markets sank in a sea of red after Wall Street suffered its worst drubbing in months, as fears over rising US Treasury yields sparked a broad sell-off of risky assets.
— Agencies