Sensex Tanks 461 Points as BoJ Stance Rattles Global Markets

CHENNAI: On Thursday, two major central banks - the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) - did nothing but maintained status quo in their monetary policy action. While the Fed’s move, which indicated a hawkish stance to lift policy rates further up in June, cheered up investors, BoJ’s decision against fresh

stimulus and continuity of a negative interest rate regime, rattled markets.

Benchmark Sensex crashed over 461 points on Thursday - the biggest single-day decline in three weeks - while the broader NSE Nifty went below the psychological 7,900-mark.

All major indices across Asian markets fell on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei sank 3.61%, while Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.27%. European shares also fell in tandem with sell-off in Asian markets.

Countries like China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan fell by up to 1.04 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng moved up by 0.12 per cent.

“While the Federal Reserve decided to keep policy rates unchanged along expected lines, the Bank of Japan disappointed market expectations by not announcing further stimulus measures for the Japanese economy,” said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager - Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund. Meanwhile, the rupee snapped its two-session winning run against the US dollar by

dropping 8 paise to close at 66.52 on month-end demand for the American currency from importers despite lower greenback overseas.

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