The BSE S&P Sensex closed 624 points lower at 36,958 while the Nifty 50 was down by 184 points to 10,925
Equity benchmark indices closed 1.6% lower on Tuesday as heavy selling pressure built up in automotive and telecom stocks while investors awaited a government fiscal stimulus package to reverse the slowdown in the overall economy.
Besides, the introduction of a surcharge on higher income brackets announced in the Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has led to a brisk selloff by foreign portfolio investors.
The BSE S&P Sensex closed 624 points lower at 36,958 while the Nifty 50 was down by 184 points to 10,925. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty auto plunging by 3.95%, financial services by 2.98%, private banks by 2.56% and IT by 2.51%.
Among stocks, Yes Bank topped the chart of losers. It closed 10.9% lower at Rs 73.20 per share. Bajaj Finance was down by 6%, Mahindra & Mahindra by 5.8%, Bajaj Finserv by 5.5% and Eicher Motors by 5.3%.
Telecom stocks slipped after Reliance Industries unveiled plans to launch high-speed internet services and free high definition TV with annual data subscription plans under its telecom subsidiary Jio. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea slipped 5.2% and 6.3% respectively while multiplexes PVR Ltd and Inox Leisure were down by 4.1% each.
"We are introducing a disruptive concept for watching new movies. Premium Jio Fibre customers will be able to watch movies in their living rooms the same day these movies are released in theatres," Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani announced at the 42nd annual general meeting on Monday.
Meanwhile, Reliance stocks spurted by 9.7% to close at Rs 1,275 per share, a day after the conglomerate also announced a 75-billion dollar sale of a 20% stake in its oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco. The other prominent gainers at bourses were Indiabulls Housing Finance which gained by over 14%, Sun Pharma by 3.8% and GAIL by 1.3%.
Meanwhile, Asian shares slumped as fears about a drawn-out US-China war and protests in Hong Kong drove investors to safe harbours like bonds. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down by 1% and Chinese stocks fell by 0.6%.
Hong Kong's main market index tumbled by more than 2% to a seven-month low. Japan's Nikkei also took a hit of 1.1% while stocks in Singapore shed 0.7% after the government slashed its full-year economic growth forecasts.
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