Sensex plunges 406 points on China rout; cracks below 25,000-level

The Indian stock market came under fresh bout of pressures mainly due to geopolitical developments.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Indian stock market came under fresh bout of pressures on Thursday mainly due to geopolitical developments such as the hydrogen bomb test by North Korea and tensions in West Asia, as also weak signals from the US and Chinese economies.

The benchmark BSE Sensex extended losses on a fourth straight day by falling below 25,000-level for the first time since September 7. Sensex plunged 406.54 points to hit 24,999.79.

In addition, weakness in the rupee against the American currency too weighed on the sentiment.

At the National Stock Exchange, the broader 50-share Nifty was quoting at 7,624.00 points, with a loss of 117.00 points.

All the sectoral indices led by metal, capital goods and auto were trading in the negative zone with losses up to 3.12 percent.

Major losers were ONGC (4.34 pc), Maruti (3.97 pc), Tata Motors (3.91 pc), M&M (3.74 pc), BHEL (3.51 pc) and Tata Steel (3.43 pc).

Asian markets were in deep red with Shanghai shares crashing 7.32 percent, forcing authorities to suspend trading, less than half an hour after opening. The fall came amid worries over slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy, which have roiled investors worldwide, and with pressure on its currency from capital outflows.

Besides, overnight losses in the US markets hurt sentiment, they added. In other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 3.05 percent while Japan's Nikkei shed 1.78 percent in early trade today.