Sensex dips 285 points to 4-month low, down 9% in Jan

As concerns over rising inflation and nterest rates gathered momentum, the benchmark Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday fell by 285 points, or 1.5%, to close at a four-month low of 18,684.

As concerns over rising inflation and nterest rates gathered momentum, the benchmark Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday fell by 285 points, or 1.5%, to close at a four-month low of 18,684.

HT Image

The Sensex has already lost 8.9% in January, the second-straight fall after the Reserve Bank of India announced inflationary concerns and raised the repo and reverse repo rates by 0.25 percentage points each.

The broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange fell by 83 points, or 1.5%, to close at 5,604.

The fall in the markets was driven by domestic concerns as most Asian and European markets traded in the black on Thursday. The fall was led by real estate, healthcare and metal stocks.

DLF and Sterlite emerged as the biggest losers among Sensex companies as concerns on interest rate and commodity prices continue to rise.

Another major loser in the Sensex was Mahindra & Mahindra that lost 4.9% after Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on the company from "buy" to "sell".