Sensex crashes by 566 points

MUMBAI: Sensex crashed by another 566.56 points or 3.4 per cent on Friday, bringing it below the 16,000 mark to close at 15,975.52, lowest since September 18, 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty index also dropped 149.80, or 3 per cent, to 4,771.60.

After Friday’s fall, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s index slumped 9.1 per cent this week, its steepest weekly decline in 21 months since May 2006, with 27 out of 30 stocks falling. All 13 industry indexes on the exchange dropped by between 1.1 per cent and 6.6 per cent and eight stocks fell for each that rose.

The SBI’s assets fell to its lowest in more than four months after finance minister P Chidambaram said lenders should consider cutting rates on home loans. ICICI Bank registered its biggest losses in 10 months—the banking index recorded its big-gest weekly fall since May ’04.