Sensex sinks 324 pts on global sell-off; Fed minutes weigh

Asian markets were mostly in the red with Shanghai Composite index falling by 3.42 per cent, while European markets were off up to 1.24 per cent in their morning trade. Rupee dropping to almost two-year low of 65.50 against the dollar also weighed, brokers said.

Minutes of the US Federal Reserve yesterday showed that the apex bank is inching closer to the first interest rate increase in nearly a decade. "Continuous fall in commodity prices, rupee weakness, sell-off by foreign portfolio investors... " said Gaurav Jain, Director at Hem Securities.

Meanwhile, brent crude fell by 1.59 per cent to USD 46.41 a barrel mark in the global market. The 30-share BSE index after resuming a shade higher, slipped into the negative zone and continued to decline. As selling intensified, the index hit a low of 27,564.16 before settling at 27,607.82, down 323.82 points or 1.16 per cent. Of the 30-share Sensex pack, 25 ended lower.

The 50-issue Nifty slipped below 8,400 level by tumbling 122.40 points or 1.44 per cent its biggest single-day percentage fall since July 27, to close at 8,372.75.

Intra-day, it hovered between 8,501.35 and 8,359.75.

Vedanta lost most among Sensex and Nifty stocks and tumbled 4 per cent to Rs 98.50, followed by Axis Bank. RIL, BHEL, Tata Steel, GAIL, SBI, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, Coal India, L&T, ONGC, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto were among the biggest BSE losers.

Sector-wise, BSE realty index suffered the most by falling 4.13 per cent, followed by metal (2.39 pc), banking (2.33 pc), IT (2.27 pc), PSU (2.04 pc), infra (1.90 pc), power (1.84 pc), consumer durables (1.83 pc) and capital goods (1.82 pc). Meanwhile, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 423.72 crore yesterday.