Bears on THE Prowl: Sensex tanks 1,170 pts

Mumbai: Market benchmark Sensex crashed over 1,170 points to log its worst single-day drop in over seven months on Monday amid concerns over government's reform measures after farm laws repeal announcement and weak listing of India's largest fintech firm Paytm. Extending its losses for the fourth straight session, the BSE gauge plunged 1,170.12 points or 1.96 per cent to settle the day at 58,465.89 – its lowest closing level in over two months. In terms of absolute single-session drop, this was the biggest fall since April 12 this year.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 348.25 points or 1.96 per cent to 17,416.55, marking its lowest level seen after September 20. Among top losers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, NTPC, Titan and SBI – diving as much as 5.74 per cent. Reliance Industries sank over 4 per cent, after the company shelved a proposed deal to sell a 20 per cent stake in its oil refinery and petrochemical business to Saudi Aramco for an asking of $15 billion.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and PowerGrid managed to clock gains. One97 Communications, Paytm's parent firm, tumbled over 13 per cent to close at 1,360.30 a share on the BSE.

Sectorally, BSE realty, energy, consumer durables, auto, oil and gas, and finance indices fell up to 4.45 per cent, while telecom and metal indices ended with gains. Broader midcap and smallcap indices fell up to 2.96 per cent.