The Indian stock markets fell more than two-and-a-half percentage points to their three-month low and investors lost close to Rs 1.6 lakh crore on Tuesday after concerns of a weakening banking system in Spain and growing tension in the Korean peninsula roiled the European and Asian markets. Continuing their selling spree, foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have already sold stocks worth more than $2 billion in May, offloaded equities worth Rs 1,464 crore on Tuesday, provisional data released by the Bombay Stock Exchange said.
The BSE Sensex is now down 10.84% from the peak of 17,970 it touched on April 7 this year. The Sensex tanked 447 points on Tuesday.
The Indian markets fared relatively better than some of their Asian counterparts as Japan?s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong?s Hang Seng Index and Indonesia?s Jakarta Composite plunged more than three percentage points, slipping 3.06%, 3.47% and 3.66%, respectively.
The Nifty fell below the 4800 mark during trade for the first time since February 16, 2010. The turnover in derivatives, at Rs 1.49 lakh crore, was at its third highest in the last one year.
Share prices of 29 of the 30 Sensex companies declined. In the broader market, laggards outnumbered winners with 2,304 stocks declining compared with 484 advanced. The advance-decline ratio ended up at around 1:5. RIL, L&T and Infosys together dragged the Sensex down by about 170 points while 23 of the BSE 500 companies hit their 52-week low. These include DLF, NMDC, NHPC and Punj Lloyd.
?There will be global variables such as the European crisis that will impact India,? Nilesh Shah, head of investments at ICICI Prudential Asset Management, said. ?The financial markets are hugely interlinked with global flows.?
Slipping below the 16,000 mark during the day, the BSE Sensex was down by 447.07 points or 2.71% to close at 16,022.48. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty slid 137.2 points or 2.78% at 4,806.75. The market opened weak taking cues from lower Asian stocks and extended losses tracking weak European markets.
