Global Cues Hits Hard; Markets Down By 704 points

The markets plunged over 4 per cent amid sell-off in global equities after the Federal Reserve steered away from announcing QE3. The Nifty plunged 210 points, at 4,923 and the Sensex declined 704 points, at 16,361. The Nifty and the Sensex clocked its biggest point fall since July 2009. The rupee also dropped to the 25-month low of Rs 49.01 per dollar due to capitulation across the board. In Asia, Hang Seng index tumbled to two year lows, down 5 per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite declined 3 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average slipped over 2 per cent. In Europe the CAC, DAX and FTSE tumbled over 4 per cent each. Back in India markets shrugged of the weekly food inflation data. Whole Sale Price Index for the week ended September 10 slipped to 8.84 per cent, at seven week low as wheat prices fell. All the sectoral indices also closed in the negative, BSE Realty and Metal indices were the worst hit, down over 5 per cent and 4 per cent each. Metal shares lost sheen on concerns that the global growth slowdown may dampen demand. Sterlite Industries and JSW Steel fell almost 7 per cent each, and Hindalco slipped around 5 per cent. From the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices fell over 3 per cent each. The market breadth was extremely negative, 2,235 stocks declined for only 606 stocks which advanced.