Sensex drops over 1,000 points; Nifty falls below 16,300

Traders said a weak rupee, rise in crude oil prices and persistent foreign capital outflow weighed on the sentiment.

Traders said a weak rupee, rise in crude oil prices and persistent foreign capital outflow weighed on the sentiment.

Equity benchmark Sensex fell over 1,000 points below the 55,000 level on Friday, tracking deep losses in IT, finance, banking and energy stocks amid widespread selling in global markets.

Traders said a weak rupee, rise in crude oil prices and continued foreign capital outflow weighed on the sentiment.

The 30-share BSE index ended 1,016.84 points or 1.84 per cent lower at 54,303.44. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 276.30 points or 1.68% to 16,201.80.

Kotak Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling nearly 4%, followed by Bajaj Finance, HDFC twins, Reliance Industries, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel and TCS.

On the other hand, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Dr Reddy’s, Titan and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.

Sector-wise, BSE IT, Tech, Bankex, Finance and Oil & Gas declined up to 2.09%, while Telecom gained.

According to rating agency Icra, operating profit margins of information technology companies may shrink by up to 1.50% in the near future as wage cost inflation lags behind high attrition hit players in the over $200 billion industry.

Among the broader markets, the BSE Midcap, Large-cap and Smallcap gauges slipped up to 1.72%.

On Friday, the rupee depreciated by 11 paise to end at a record low of 77.85 (provisional) against the US dollar.

After heavy selling in the US market, shares in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul closed lower, while Shanghai settled in the green.

Equities in Europe were witnessing heavy selling pressure in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.45% to $123.62 a barrel.

India’s crude oil basket has hit a decade high of $121 a barrel, but retail selling prices of petrol and diesel remain stable.

As per data available from Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Oil Ministry, the Indian basket touched USD 121.28 on June 9, the same as it was seen in February/March 2012.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth ₹1,512.64 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings has downgraded India’s sovereign rating from ‘stable’ to ‘stable’ after two years, citing the risk of a slowdown in medium-term growth on a rapid economic recovery.