Sensex falls below 15,000 mark, loses over 300 points

Marketmen said the equities fell sharply in the last few sessions on concerns that the weakest monsoon in the past five years would lead to lower farm output and spending.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex went below 15,000 by tumbling more than 304 points at noon on Wednesday because of brisk selling by foreign funds and retail investors, on monsoon concerns amid weak global trends.

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The 30-share index dropped by 304.50 points to 14,770.09 at 1200 hrs as stocks of realty, metals and banks suffered heavy losses.

Similarly, the 50-share Nifty of the wide-based National Stock Exchange fell by 91.65 points to 4,379.70. All the sectoral indices dipped with losses up to 1.68 per cent.

Marketmen said the equities fell sharply in the last few sessions on concerns that the weakest monsoon in the past five years would lead to lower farm output and spending.

They said selling pressure increased on the domestic bourses in tandem with weakness on the US markets and similar trends on other Asian bourses.