Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged nearly 362 points on Tuesday due to an across-the-board sell-off as financial sector woes, auto sales slump and weak macro data spooked investors. The NSE gauge Nifty too tanked 115 points to slip below the 11,400-level.
Strong Start
The 30-share Sensex, which opened on a firm footing, crashed over 737 points in late afternoon trade, before finally finishing at 38,305.41, down 361.92 points or 0.94 per cent. The gauge touched a high of 38,923.78 and a low of 37,929.89 intra-day.
The broader Nifty too underwent bouts of volatility before closing lower by 114.55 points, or 1 per cent, at 11,359.90.
Yes Bank continues to fall
Yes Bank shares plummeted over 22 per cent, their fifth consecutive session of fall, as promoter Rana Kapoor and his group entities sold another 2.16 per cent stake worth Rs 510 crore.
Other major laggards were IndusInd Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries -- falling as much as 6.30 per cent.
Among the Sensex constituents, HDFC twins, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Bank, HUL and Asian Paints ended in the green.
Manufacturing Sector Data
The country's manufacturing sector activity in September remained unchanged amid subdued demand conditions both domestically as well as externally, a monthly survey said on Tuesday.
The IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI was at 51.4 in September, unchanged from August and thereby posting its joint-lowest reading since May 2018.
Official data released after market hours on Monday showed that the output of eight core infrastructure industries fell 0.5 per cent in August.
Weak Automobile Sales
In further worries for the auto sector and the economy as a whole, automobile sales have witnessed a sharp decline again in September.
Sales of Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar, Bajaj Auto, Ashok Leyland and Mahindra and Mahindra have shown a significant decline during the month.
Global Markets
Globally, Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday. Markets in China and Hong Kong were closed for holidays.
Investors are hoping that the US and China can find some common ground and reach a deal on trade and other issues during their high-level meet next week in Washington.
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