Sensex tanks 234 points to end below 26,000-level, Nifty slumps to 7-month low

Mumbai: After a breather in the previous session, the benchmark BSE Sensex felt for the eight time in nine days crashing 234 points while the Nifty slumped to a 7-month low, both hit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talk on higher taxation.

While the NSE Nifty slumped to a 7-month low of 7,908, falling 77.50 points, the Sensex crashed by 233.60 points to end at a fresh one-month low 25,807.10.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said market participants should contribute to nation-building in a "fair, efficient and transparent way" and promised more "sound and prudent policies and reform measures", which was seen in some quarters as a prelude to higher taxation by way of long-term capital gains tax on investment in shares.

Though Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday clarified that the government has no such plans, investors were already a nervous lot.

This triggered selling, which saw the benchmark index fall for the eighth time in nine days to extend the last week's losing spell.

The 50-share Nifty after cracking below the 7,900-mark to hit a low of 7,893.80 finally settled lower by 77.50 points, or 0.97 percent, at 7,908.25. This is its lowest closing since May 24 this year at 7,748.85.

The BSE Sensex resumed lower and dropped further before ending at a fresh one-month low 25,807.10, a loss of 233.60 points, or 0.90 percent. It had risen by 61.10 points on Friday.

Short-covering ahead of December month expiry in the derivatives segment on Thursday and value-buying in select stocks helped the indices recoup the losses to some extent, brokers said.

Foreign capital outflows continued, tracking other global markets.

Investors see equities to remain volatile in the near term as most foreign funds will be on year-ending holidays amid absence of any major trigger.

Cipla took the biggest knock as it plunged by 4.94 percent followed by Lupin 2.78 percent, Tata Steel (2.64 percent), ONGC and SBI (2.07%).

From the gainers pack, HUL gained the most by rising 1.25 percent, Bharti Airtel 0.25 percent and TCS 0.17 percent.

Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 1,462.65 crore last Friday, as per the provisional data.

Major Asian indices were down as investors cashed in on a recent global rally fuelled by expectations from the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Japan's Nikkei shed 0.16 percent but Shanghai Composite rose 0.40 percent. Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur markets remained closed today for a public holiday.

Europe was mixed in afternoon trade as indices in London and Paris moved up by 0.06 percent and 0.10 percent. Frankfurt was down 0.05 percent.

Back home, the mid-cap index fell 2.17 percent while the small-cap lost 2.10 percent.

Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 25 ended lower.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty fell by 3.61 percent, followed by metal 2.85 percent, healthcare (2.58 percent), PSU (2.05 percent) and power (1.79 percent).

With PTI Inputs