Sensex Trades Over 100 Points Lower, Rupee Plunges To Fresh Low

The domestic equity markets traded in the red zone on Thursday amid the trade deficit hitting a 5-year high and the rupee plunging to fresh lows in early trade. 

The S&P BSE Sensex opened at 37,796.01 and the Nifty50 at 11,397.15. In the first ten minutes of the trade, the Sensex traded 129.63 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 37,722.37 and the Nifty50 was at 11,406.15, down 28.95 points or 0.25 per cent. Vedanta, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Steel, Adani Ports and HDFC were the top five Sensex losers.

Meanwhile, Asian shares hit fresh one-year lows in early trading, while oil and precious metal prices also tumbled as Turkey's currency crisis and fears of an economic slowdown in China fanned worries about global growth.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.0 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei and the Australian benchmark dropped 1.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Wall Street's major indexes closed lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 down 0.8 per cent, its biggest percentage drop since late June, amid disappointing earnings and escalating global trade worries.

On Tuesday, foreign portfolio investors sold net equities of Rs. 378.84 crore and domestic institutional investors purchased net shares of Rs. 391.47 crore. The Sensex had ended at 37,852 and the Nifty at 11,435, in the last session.