Market mayhem continues; Sensex crashes over 600 points, Nifty opens below 10,700

New Delhi: Bloodbath at dalal street continued on Thursday with Sensex crashing over 600 points and Nifty slipping below 10,700 level.

The hostility in markets were in tandem with Asian markets. Fears over the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) turning more hawkish in its monetary policy stance also weighed on sentiments.

Both Sensex and Nifty dipped above 1.5 percentage in early morning trade. At 9.23 am the  BSE benchmark Sensex plunged over 518.63 points or 1.44 percent to 35,457.00. The NSE Nifty, too cracked 169.10 points or 1.56 percent at 10,689.15.

Heavy selling was witnessed in IT, auto and telecom stocks, after the rupee collapsed to a new life-time low amid surging crude oil prices.

The rupee opened at a fresh record low of 73.60 versus dollar against yesterday's closing lifetime low of 73.34.

Yesterday, the BSE barometer plummeted 550.51 points, or 1.51 percent, to end at 35,975.63.

Investor wealth eroded by Rs 1.71 lakh crore Wednesday in tandem with a weak broader market where the BSE benchmark Sensex plunged over 550 points. Led by the sharp loss in the equity market, the market capitalisation of the BSE-listed companies plunged Rs 1,71,287.84 crore to Rs 1,43,71,351.05 crore.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan skidded 1.1 percent in response, with South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan all down. Even the Nikkei eased 0.2 percent, as rising yields offset the boost to exporters from a weaker yen, a Reuters report said.

With Agency Inputs