MUMBAI: The benchmark Nifty plunged 99 points to fresh 19 month lows to fall below the key 7,500-level on a global slide triggered by fresh slump in crude oil prices and volatile China stocks.
Collapse in crude oil, which fell below USD 30 a barrel on the prospect of additional Iranian supply, once again spooked global financial markets.
Sharp sell-off in China stocks raised another round of concern over slowing growth. On the domestic front, rupee depreciating to fresh 29-month low of 67.70 vs dollar intra-day, sustained FII selling and muted earnings by some blue-chips weighed on sentiment.
Initial value-buying gains were side-tracked as shares traded in tight range for most of the session. Selling escalated in late afternoon as European market fell, reacting to plummeting crude.
Barring IT counters, which saw slight buying activity, across the board selling was witnessed. It was led by PSU Bank (5.82 per cent), followed by realty (4.52 per cent), media (3.67 per cent), metal (3.54 per cent), infra (3.40 per cent), financials (2.44 per cent), auto (1.83 per cent), FMCG (1.76 per cent), Pharma (0.96 per cent) and energy (0.74 per cent).
Broader mid-cap index lost 4.40 per cent, while small-cap fell by 4.49 per cent. The 50-share Nifty resumed higher at 7,561.65 and traded between 7,566.50 and 7,427.30 before closing at 7,437.80, dropping 99.00 points, or 1.31 per cent. It had settled at 7,402.25 on June 4, 2014.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks ended negative, while European stocks were trading lower in afternoon trade. Major loser were Vedanta (8.19 per cent), GAIL (6.07 per cent), SBI (5.99 per cent), PNB (5.73 per cent), Cairn (5.60
per cent), ICICI Bank (4.79 per cent), Axis Bank (4.19 per cent) and HUL (2.78 per cent). Turnover in cash segment declined to Rs 17,547.65 crore from Rs 18,544.38 crore yesterday. A total of 9,905.16 lakh shares changed hands in 74,35,337 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 91,41,855 crore.