Sensex tanks 238 points, Nifty down 68 points but manages to hold 10K

The 30-share index ended down 238.86 points, or 0.74 percent, at 32,237.88 after hitting a low of 32,194.58. The gauge had lost 98.43 points yesterday.

The Nifty slumped by 67.85 points, or 0.67 percent, but managed to close above the 10,000-mark at 10,013.65 after touching a low of 9,998.25.

All Nifty Banks closed in the red; ICICI, HDFC stocks dip

Interest rate sensitive stocks - banking, realty and auto - continued to fall for the second straight session as the RBI policy action failed to enthuse investors.

RIL shares tests intra day high of Rs 1649.

Findings of a monthly survey released made mood more downbeat, which showed that services PMI for July fell to its lowest level in nearly four years following implementation of GST.

The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a pointer to services output on a monthly basis, plunged to 45.9 in July, the lowest since September 2013, from June's eight-month high of 53.1.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net purchased shares worth Rs 473.72 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares of Rs 232.95 crore.

Top  gainers on NSE

Top 10 losers on NSE

Markets extended their loss today following continuous selling in metal and banking stocks, close on the heels of a 0.25 percent interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Coal India tanked 1.82 percent. SBI, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and HDFC too pulled down the index.

Performance of BSE 50 stocks

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.42 percent at 10,038.95 as of 11:40 am, while the benchmark BSE Sensex plummeted 152.87 points at 32,323.87.

The rupee strengthened by 5 paise to trade at a fresh two-year high of 63.65 against the dollar, buoyed by hopes of more capital inflows, coupled with more selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.

Sensex on Thursday opened slightly higher at 32,502.55 points than its previous close of 32,476.74.

S&P BSE Sensex was 40.58 points or 0.12 percent down to 32,436.16 at 9.20 am. On the other hand the broader Nifty plunged 21.25 points or 0.21 percent to 10,060.25. Sectoral indices bank, FMCG, metal, power, realty, capital goods and IT slumped.

Asian shares slid on Thursday, led by falls in South Korean tech shares, as investors locked in recent gains after Wall Street`s Dow Jones Industrial Average broke the 22,000 barrier for the first time in its 121-year history. 

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.9 percent, with South Korea`s tech-heavy Kospi index on course to drop 1.8 percent, its biggest fall since November.