Markets Take a Sharp Plunge as Bears Take Charge; Sensex Down By 900 Points, Nifty Below 24,800

Markets Today: Benchmark indices took a sharp downturn on Friday after touching new all-time highs earlier this week. BSE Sensex plunged by nearly 900 points whereas NSE Nifty hovered around 24,750. Tata Motors was the biggest loser in the morning trading session, as the company's share price fell by more than 3 per cent.

At 10:15 am, BSE Sensex was trading at 81,152 level, down by 715 points or 0.87 per cent. Meanwhile, NSE Nifty lost more than 200 points and was trading around 24,785 level. Global markets also witnessed muted gains as broader sell-off took the better of investor sentiment.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.

HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Nestle India and ITC were among the gainers.

"The rally in India has been sustained more by money flows into the market than by fundamentals. Without fundamental support the rally cannot sustain. It remains to be seen whether the buy on dips strategy will work this time too. Since valuations are high some profit booking, particularly in mid and small caps, can be considered," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.78 per cent to USD 80.14 a barrel.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading lower.

The US stock market also ended lower on Thursday after a record rally.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2,089.28 crore in the capital markets on Thursday.

The 30-share Sensex climbed 126.21 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at a new lifetime high of 81,867.55, while NSE Nifty rose 59.75 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at an all-time closing peak of 25,010.90.

A monthly survey released on Thursday showed India's manufacturing sector growth eased slightly in July, on softer increases in new orders and output, while cost pressures and demand strength led to the steepest increase in selling prices since October 2013.

The government's GST collections in July rose 10.3 per cent to over Rs 1.82 lakh crore, mainly driven by domestic transactions in goods and services, according to official data released on Thursday.

(With inputs from PTI)