IAF strikes: Sensex dips 240 pts; Rupee dips 33p

The debt and equity markets tanked on Tuesday during the intra-day trading hours, as Indian Air Force launched air strikes on terror camps across Pakistan during the wee hours.

In the first one hour of the trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex crashed by over 432 points (1%). However, during the day, the markets tried to stabilise. At the close of the trading session, the BSE Sensex stood at 35,973.71 points, down 240 points.

On the other, the broader index, 50-share NSE Nifty closed at 10,835.30 points, down 44.80 points from yesterday's close.

The overall market breadth is also heavily negative -- BSE witnessed 1,576 declines as against 945 advances.

"In the early morning, there was a fear of the knee-jerk retaliation from Pakistan. So there was a panic in the market," an analyst said.

The rupee, on the other hand, depreciated 33 paise to 71.30 against the US dollar in early trade Tuesday at the forex market on fresh demand for the US currency from importers.

However, during the day's trade, Indian currency stabilised, and was trading at 71.06 against the greenback, down 8 paise against the US Dollar in the Interbank Exchange.