Markets crash to 7-week low

Sensex falls 324 points, Nifty 109

Mumbai: Markets hit worst single-day crash, Sensex plunged 324 points and Nifty 109 points on negative global cues on Tuesday.

Investors booked profits ahead of the US Fed meet which may hike interest rates in US. Also, foreign funds increased selling in the previous session also weighed on market sentiment.

Analysts say that the market players are looking for clues for the timing of the first US rate hike, which it may announce the timelines on Tuesday, effective from next year.

Sensex closed at 26,493, down by 324 and Nifty lower at 7,933, down by 109 points. Also, broader markets are seen with selling pressure as Midcap and Smallcap down over 3 per cent each.

Domestic investors also booked profits on the recent out performing counters including realty, banking, consumer durables and O&G. All the 12 sectoral indices ended in red. Heavyweight like Reliance Industries was top loser down by 2.3 per cent, L&T down 2.8 per cent, ONGC and Coal India closed down 2 to 3 per cent each after the government announced stake sale in both the companies.

Bank stock, SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC ended down 1 to 3 per cent as RBI Governor hinted no rate cut as inflation may pick up again.

Other shares down include Venus Remedies, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Tata Motors, while stocks of Dr Reddy, Bharti Airtel, ITC, M&M and Infosys gained.

In Asian markets, Nikkei closed 0.23 per cent down and China's Shanghai Composite index lost 1.82 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.91 per cent lower.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 lost 0.45 per cent, Germany's DAX Index declined by 0.40 per cent, and France's CAC 40 was down by 0.54 per cent.