Sensex drops most in 3 months as Greece crisis mars sentiment

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday fell the most in three months, losing over 300 points in line with other markets that tumbled over concerns of the financial crisis in Greece.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday fell the most in three months, losing over 300 points in line with other markets that tumbled over concerns of the financial crisis in Greece.

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The Sensex, which lost 55 points in the previous session, lost 310.54 points to close at 17,380.08, its steepest fall since February 5, on all-round selling by funds in heavy-weight stocks.

25 of the 30 Sensex shares ended in the red.

The market was pulled down by overnight weakness in the US and European stocks, which were influenced by the downgrade of Greece's sovereign ratings. Standard & Poor's yesterday assigned junk rating to Greece's debt, while also downgrading Portugal's rating.

The deepening financial crisis in Greece could have implications for the whole of Europe.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 92.90 points to 5,215.45, as the most-heaviest Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies dropped.

Reliance Industries fell Rs 44.10 to Rs 1,017 and Infosys by Rs 41.10 to Rs 2,700.55. The two carry nearly 23 per cent weightage on the BSE index.

Tata Steel, which bought Europe's Corus Group in 2007, slid to a five-week low and Bharti Airtel, top mobile operator in the country, plunged after its results disappointed investors. Its profit fell 8 per cent.