(Representative image)

NEW DELHI: Equity indices on Thursday finished in red with the benchmark BSE sensex nosediving more than 450 points amid sharp sell-off in auto, banking and metal stocks. Sensex crashed 463 points or 1.23 per cent to close at 37,018, while the broader NSE Nifty plunged 105 points or 1.24 per cent to finish at 10,980.

Top laggards on the sensex pack include Vedanta, State Bank of India (SBI), Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Tata Steel with their shares falling as much as 5.61 per cent. 23 out of 30 stocks on the BSE index closed in red.

On NSE, except for Nifty Auto, all other sub-indices witnessed major losses with Nifty Metal and Media down as much as 3.13 per cent.

Both BSE and NSE indices are witnessing their worst July performance in 17 years. The fall was triggered by dumping of stocks by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who have sold Rs 12,419 crore of equities in July 2019 — making the month the worst performing one this year.

The 30-share BSE index plunged around 750 points to touch a day-low of 36,694 in the late afternoon deals. Here are the top factors responsible for this slide:

1) Weak industrial growth numbers

Investor sentiment was hit after official data showed that growth of eight core industries dropped to 0.2 per cent in June, mainly due to contraction in oil-related sectors as well as cement production.

2) US Federal Reserve

The domestic bourses also tracked losses in broader Asia, after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday’s 25 basis points (bps) rate cut was not the start of a lengthy easing cycle that investors were hoping for.

Powell described the rate cut as "a mid-cycle adjustment to policy", while markets took it as a sign that sharp further cuts were not imminent.

"Markets were expecting something better from the Fed and that has not happened," Neeraj Dewan, a director at Quantum Securities, told news agency Reuters.

3) Rupee fall

The Indian rupee tumbled 41 paise to 69.20 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday amid unabated foreign fund outflows and rising crude oil prices. Forex traders strengthening of the greenback vis-a-vis other currencies overseas and cautious opening in domestic equities weighed on the local unit.

Forex traders strengthening of the greenback vis-a-vis other currencies overseas and cautious opening in domestic equities weighed on the local unit.

4) Quarterly numbers

Meanwhile, weak earnings results for the June-quarter continued to pour cold water on investor sentiment. UPL Ltd shares fell about 4.7 per cent, after the fertilizer maker reported a profit that missed analysts’ estimates by a big margin. The stock was languishing at the bottom among its Nifty peers at open.

Eicher Motors fell as much as 3.5 per cent to its lowest in over three and a half years, after the motorcycle-to-bus maker reported a weaker-than-expected profit, and flagged continued headwinds to the industry due to weak demand.

(With agency inputs)



In Video: Sensex crashes over 400 points; Nifty ends at 10,980