Sensex Down 200 Points, Rupee Slumps to Over 3-Month Low

BSE Sensex and Nifty slumped on Friday amid a global selloff and a sharp fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar. The Indian rupee fell over 3-month low of 60.83 against dollar, its lowest since April 22.

The dollar has also rallied against other global currencies after a report showed the US economy rebounded sharply in the second quarter. Measured against a basket of its peers, the dollar gained 2 per cent in July for its best monthly performance 1-1/2 years.

This has led Indian banks rushing in to buy dollar for corporate- and defence-related payments. Some traders said the demand for the dollar had also been exacerbated as some investors unwound short positions on the greenback.

Market analyst Ambareesh Baliga said a correction was overdue in Indian stock markets and Nifty could fall to 7400 levels or even lower. Expectations from the new government and corporate results are very high but it will take time for improvement at the ground level, he added. (Track stocks)

Further putting pressure on Indian markets, foreign investors sold Indian shares worth Rs 1,654 crore on Thursday, their biggest single-day selling since July 2.

Asian shares stumbled today after an overnight swoon on Wall Street. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.5 per cent.

Overnight, the Dow sank 1.88 per cent, while the S&P 500 shed 2 per cent and the Nasdaq 2.09 per cent. US markets came under pressure on fears that the Federal Reserve could raise short-term interests faster than expected because of a rebound in growth during the spring.

The Federal Reserve has kept short-term interest rate at close to zero for more than five years, but policy makers are now becoming more optimistic about the outlook for the economy after growth expanded by a better-than-expected 4 per cent in the second quarter.

Indian markets have been ignoring geo-political issues, Mr Baliga added.

At 10:04 a.m., the Sensex was down nearly 150 points to 25,746 while Nifty fell 48 points to 7,650. At its day's low. Sensex fell to 25,679 while Nifty slumped to 7,649.

The selling pressure was broad-based with all the sectoral indices on the BSE in the red.

Among Nifty stocks, Tech Mahindra shares fell 5.5 per cent on Friday after the IT major reported lower-than-expected margins in the June quarter. First-quarter ebitda margin fell 300 basis points sequentially to 18.2 per cent, Tech Mahindra said. Analysts polled by NDTV expected the outsourcer to post ebitda margin of 19.6 per cent.

Among other major Nifty losers, HCL Tech, M&M and HDFC fell over 2 per cent.

Maruti Suzuki rose over 2 per cent after India's biggest carmaker reported higher-than-expected sales. Its domestic sales in July rose nearly 20 per cent. (With Agency Inputs)