Stock Market Crash: Sensex Tanks 1,053 Points; Nifty Ends Below 21,250. ZEE Shares Sink 31 Per Cent

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, IndusInd Bank was the top loser, down over 6 per cent, followed by SBI, HUL, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank were among the other losers

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Tuesday dived to one-month low following a daylong free fall in financial and FMCG stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 1,053 points to close at 70,371. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled below the 21,250-mark to end at 21,239, down 333 points. The domestic indices hit their intraday lows of 70,234 and 21,193, respectively.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, IndusInd Bank was the top loser, down over 6 per cent, followed by SBI, HUL, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank were among the other losers. On the flip side, Sun Pharma, Airtel, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finserv, and TCS emerged gainers. Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd tumbled 32 per cent on Tuesday, a day after Sony Pictures Networks India called off its $10-billion merger with the Indian media group.Shares of ZEE closed at Rs 155.90 apiece on the BSE.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined nearly 3 per cent each.

Sectorwise, except pharma, all other indices ended in the red. Nifty Media index tumbled 13 per cent, Nifty Realty index dropped 5 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank fell 4 per cent, while Nifty Bank index dropped 2 per cent. Nifty Pharma, on the other hand, rallied 1.6 per cent.

In the previous session on Monday, the domestic indices on January 22 was shut on account of the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

"Global sentiments turned cautious after Fitch Group statement that South Asian economies would be most affected, amid rising hostilities in the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks and India’s economic forecast faces a significant risk on account of a prolonged spell of disruptions," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed with a sharp gain of 2.63 per cent, and China's Shanghai Composite increased by 0.52 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.8 per cent. European markets were trading lower on Tuesday, with Germany's DAX down 0.09 per cent and the CAC 40 of France losing 0.16 per cent.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.40 per cent to $79.74 a barrel on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 545.58 crore on Saturday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 9 paise to 83.16 (provisional) against the US dollar, as elevated crude oil prices and weak domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments. Forex traders said foreign fund outflows also put pressure on the rupee. However, a weak US Dollar overseas cushioned the downside.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.11 and finally settled at 83.16 (provisional) against the dollar, down by 9 paise from its previous close. During the day, it witnessed an intraday high of 83.06 and a low of 83.17 against the American currency. On Friday, the rupee settled at 83.07 against the US dollar.