Markets in churn again

Thursday was a volatile day for India's markets - stocks took a pounding and the rupee slipped, while gold scaled another price peak. HT reports.

Thursday was a volatile day for India's markets - stocks took a pounding and the rupee slipped, while gold scaled another price peak.

HT Image

Fresh worries on a showdown in western economies rattled the sentiment across the world with India no exception.

While Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-stock Sensex fell by 2.2% or 371 points, Nifty on National Stock Exchange too lost 2.22% or 112.2 points to close at 4,944.2 points - slipping below the 5,000-mark to a 15-month low.

The rupee breached its 6-month low to touch Rs 45.66 against the US dollar.

Safe haven investment gold ended at Rs 27,154, up 2.8%, on the MCX (October futures).

"IT stocks also created havoc on the market on Thursday due to the impact it would have if the US and Europe were to have a slowdown," said Alex Mathew, research head, Geogit BNP Paribas Financials. "The markets are expected to remain bearish for the week."

Gold is just Rs 150 shy of Rs 27,000 - a level the market expects it to achieve on Fridy. "Globally investors are looking at gold due to the high inflation and situations in US and Europe," said Hitesh Jain, commodity analyst, IIFL. "This definitely impacts India, where demand for jewellery will rise in the next three months."