Sensex Falls Over 400 Points Amid Global Weakness, FII Selloff

The BSE Sensex fell over 400 points or 1.6 per cent on Friday amid a sharp selloff in global equities. The broader Nifty slipped below the key 7,600 levels and the rupee breached 61 per dollar.

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 1,654 crore on Thursday, their biggest single-day selling since July 2, impacting market sentiments. Independent analyst Sanjeev Bhasin told NDTV that the FII selloff seems to have extended on Friday considering the sharp cuts across bluechip stocks.

On the Nifty, 42 shares traded lower. Reliance Industries fell 3 per cent, while HDFC traded 2.8 per cent lower. HCL Tech and TCS also traded with 2-2.5 per cent losses.

Maruti Suzuki, Ultra Tech Cement, Bank of Baroda, Bharti Airtel and HUL supported the markets, rising 1-2.5 per cent.

Indian stocks tracked a slump in global markets due to ongoing tensions with Russia and Argentina's second debt default in 12 years.

Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled more than 300 points, its worst one-day drop since February. The plunge snapped a string of five straight monthly gains, and pushed the blue-chip index to a slight loss for the year.

US markets came under pressure on fears that the US central bank could raise short-term interests faster than expected because of a rebound in growth during the spring.

The Federal Reserve has kept short-term interest rate at close to zero for more than five years, but policy makers are now becoming more optimistic about the outlook for the economy after growth expanded by a better-than-expected 4 per cent in the second quarter.

Although the Fed hasn't said when it will start raising rates, investors may be starting to assume that the timing will happen sooner, if the economy continues to improve and inflation picks up.

(With inputs from Reuters)