During the day, the benchmark Sensex crashed 1,274.35 points to hit a one-and-half-month low of 33,482.81 whereas the broader Nifty plummeted 390.25 points to a low of 10,276.3. (Image: Reuters)

Indian stock markets ended terribly low on Tuesday witnessing a heavy turmoil in the day with the S&P BSE Sensex plunging 561 points to end at a one-month low as shares of heavyweight companies such as Infosys, HDFC, TCS, ITC, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank dragged heavily. An extremely volatile trading session was witnessed in India’s stock market on Tuesday as the index which measures the volatility — India Vix — shot up 44.23% in the intraday trades to hit a 52-week high of 23.1575 before settling up 24.68% at 20.0150. In today’s volatile trade, 30-share barometer Sensex and wider share indicator Nifty settled at one-month low figures. BSE Sensex shed 561.22 points or 1.61% to conclude at 34,195.94 whereas NSE Nifty crumbled 168.3 points or 1.58% to finish at 10,498.25. During the day, the benchmark Sensex crashed 1,274.35 points to hit a one-and-half-month low of 33,482.81 whereas the broader Nifty plummeted 390.25 points to a low of 10,276.3.

Tata Motors shares

Tata Motors share price fell over 5% emerging as the biggest Sensex loser on Tuesday as the benchmark index lost 1,274 points in the intraday trades earlier today following the global sell-off. The stock of Tata Motors cracked about 9.86% to hit a 52-week low of Rs 357 before closing down 5.45% at Rs 374.45 on BSE while the stock slipped 9.92% to hit a 52-week low of Rs 356.5 before settling 5.22% at Rs 375.15 on NSE. A heavy trading volume has been observed in the shares of Tata Motors today, as about 2.73 crore shares exchanged hands on both NSE and BSE with more than 2.52 crore shares on NSE alone. Following a sharp slide in the share prices of Tata Motors, Rs 6,221.3 crore has been washed away from the market capitalisation of the company. Tata Motors held a market capitalisation of Rs 1,08,116.76 crore on the closing price of Rs 374.45 from Rs 1,14,338.06 crore as per yesterday’s closing price of Rs 396.05 on BSE.

Read More | Tata Motors share price falls over 5%, stock hits 52-week low, emerges as biggest Sensex loser today

Other movers

Other than Tata Motors, shares of TCS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, HUL, State Bank of India, HDFC, ITC, Asian Paints, ONGC, Yes Bank, Coal India Wipro, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Adani Ports, Power Grid and IndusInd Bank lost 1-4% as Tata Steel was the only stock which managed to close in green among the Sensex scrips. The heavyweight stocks of companies such as Infosys, HDFC, TCS, ITC, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, HUL, State Bank of India, Hero MotoCorp, L&T, Asian Paints and Yes Bank contributed heavily to the Sensex declines. Collectively these 14 shares wiped off as many as 476 points out of the 561-point drop in the Sensex.

This image shows the 30 shares of S&P BSE Sensex at closing on Tuesday. (Image: BSE)

Market at glance

Even today also, a bloodbath was observed in the indices all across as all the broader and sectoral indices of National Stock Exchange closed in the red. Among the broader market indices of NSE, other than Nifty 50 index, Nifty Next 50, Nifty 100, Nifty 200, Nifty 500, Nifty Mid100 Free Nifty, Midcap 50 and Nifty Sml100 Free declined 1-3%. On the other hand, all of the 11 sectoral indices of NSE concluded in red with Nifty IT, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Pharma, Nifty Auto, Nifty Realty, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Media and Nifty Metal tumbling 1.5-3% while Nifty Bank, Nifty Fin Service, and Nifty Pvt Bank index dropped about 1%.

Read More | Panic shakes Dala Street: Sensex crashes 1,274 points, Nifty nosedives 390 points as sell-off widens

RBI bi-monthly policy meet

The Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, began its two-day meeting on Tuesday. Investors are keenly awaiting for RBI’s repo rate decision amid the expectations that the central bank will continue with pause on key interest rate in view of firming inflation. The outcome of the 6-member MPC meeting is due on 7 February 2018. The Reserve Bank of India is expected to maintain status quo tomorrow at the sixth bi-monthly monetary policy meet, while it may sound ‘caution’ on higher crude oil price and fiscal slippage for the third time in a row. “We do not expect the RBI to react tomorrow, however, we do recognise that it will sound cautious on fiscal slippage and rising crude oil price,” Madhvi Arora, Economist at Kotak Institutional Equities told FE Online.

Also Read | Expect RBI to maintain status quo on interest rate tomorrow with ‘caution’

Regional markets

Among the regional stock markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended 4.7% lower at 21,610.24 after sliding 7% in the intraday trades. All other Asian equities also followed the suit with China’s Shanghai Composite index closing 3.4% lower at 3,370.65, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng diving 5.1% to settle at 30,595.42. Australia’s benchmark S&P ASX 200 dropped 3.2% to end at 5,833.3 while South Korea’s Kospi index declined 1.5% to finish at 2,453.31.

US stock markets on Monday

Earlier yesterday, US stock markets witnessed a massive plunge in highly volatile trading with both the key equity indices S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding over 4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index set for the worst intraday-point decline in the history dropping nearly 1,600 points. The fall in the benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were the biggest single-day percentage drops since August 2011, a period of stock-market volatility marked by the downgrade of the United States’ credit rating and the euro-zone debt crisis, Reuters said in a report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,175.21 points or 4.6% to 24,345.75, the S&P 500 lost 113.19 points or 4.1% to 2,648.94 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 273.42 points or 3.78% to 6,967.53.