Sensex plunges 424 points; Tata Motors crashes 17%

Other losers included Vedanta, Tata Steel, NTPC, ONGC, L&T, M&M, Coal India, Maruti, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, ITC and HDFC, dropping up to 5.75 per cent.
On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Hero MotoCorp rose up to 0.95 per cent.

BSE benchmark Sensex plummeted over 424 points on Friday led by a sharp selloff in metal and auto stocks amid negative cues from the global markets on renewed concerns over the US-China trade tiff.

The 30-share index cracked 424.61 points, or 1.15 per cent, to finish at 36,546.48, while the broader NSE Nifty slumped 125.80 points, or 1.14 per cent to 10,943.60.

Sudden selling in metal and auto counters led to a sharp drop at the fag end of the session, traders said.

Tata Motors was the biggest loser on Sensex, cracking 17.93 per cent, after the auto major reported its biggest ever quarterly net loss of Rs 26,960.8 crore for the December quarter, hit by one-time asset impairment in its struggling British arm Jaguar Land Rover.

Other losers included Vedanta, Tata Steel, NTPC, ONGC, L&T, M&M, Coal India, Maruti, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, ITC and HDFC, dropping up to 5.75 per cent.

On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Hero MotoCorp rose up to 0.95 per cent.

The BSE Metal index plunged 3.42 per cent, while the auto gauge shed 3.37 per cent.

Sectorally, FMCG, banking and pharma indices also ended in the red. Realty was the only gainer.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 418.01 crore on Thursday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 294.11 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

On the global front, fears of an economic slowdown resurfaced after US President Donald Trump said he does not expect to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the March 1 deadline in trade war negotiations between the two superpowers.

A top White House adviser Thursday said Washington and Beijing were still a "sizeable distance" apart in the trade talks, and no date has been set for a meeting between the countries' leaders.

Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.87 per cent lower on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei cracked 2.19 per cent, while Korea's Kospi dropped 1.20 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.16 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX was down 0.10 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 rose 0.12 per cent in late morning deals. London's FTSE was up 0.19 per cent.

The rupee, meanwhile, appreciated 32 paise against the US dollar to 71.13 intra-day.

The benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.28 per cent to USD 61.80 per barrel.

Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters