Sensex plunges over 400 pts midday; Rupee breached 72.50 mark

After the equity markets opened on a negative note today in the morning, the BSE Sensex plunged over 400 points in the afternoon session after Rupee breached 72.50 mark against the US dollar for the first time ever amid weak Asian cues.

The 30-share index dropped 418.39 points, or 1.09 per cent, to trade at 37,971.43 at 1225 hrs. The broader Nifty-50 index also trading lower below 11,500 market at 11,470.65, down 118.45 points, or 1.02 per cent.

Due to the strengthening dollar and widening trade deficit, the rupee continued its free fall hitting a new low of 72.67.

FMCG, telecom, consumer durables, finance, oil and gas, realty, power, metals, banks, energy, auto, and utilities sectors witnessed heavy selling. While SBI, IndusInd Bank, Vedanta, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, RIL and HDFC lost the most, falling up to 2.52 per cent. Wipro, NTPC, Axis Bank and Adani Ports bucked weak market trend, gaining up to 0.79 per cent.

Global market sentiment turned weak after US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened tariffs on a further $267 billion worth of Chinese imports. While, Beijing warned of retaliation if the US goes ahead with any new measures.

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Most Asian markets were trading lower as trade tensions between the US and China remained in focus, China's trade surplus with the United States widened to a record in August.

US stocks closed lower last Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending 0.31 per cent lower.