Sensex falls 427 pts amid widespread selling

The Indian markets crumbled under renewed intense selling pressure as overnight pullback rally ran out of steam with benchmark Sensex tanking 427 points to 28,503.30 and Nifty index plunging 128 points to 8,647.75 - their lowest levels in one month.

The selling was indiscriminate as all sectoral indices bore the brunt of the intense sell-off even as mid-cap and small-cap too crumbled.

The passage of the much-awaited and long-delayed insurance bill allowing foreign investors to increase stakes in local insurers from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, the reform initiatives of Modi government and better-than-expected IIP growth out put failed to enthuse market players.

Extending its strong recovery momentum, market opened on a strong note with the benchmark BSE Sensex reclaiming the important psychological 29,000-mark on positive global cues.

But the initial enthusiasm proved shortlived as key benchmark indices lost ground in a sudden bout of implied volatility.

It succumbed to heavy unwinding as investors dumped blue-chips across the board ruthlessly even traders began to pare back longs literally wiping out all overnight gains.

The Sensex opened with a gap-up at 29,134.93 and swung between a wide range of 29,183.76 and 28,448.48 before concluding at 28,503.30, posting a massive loss of 427.11 points, or 1.48 per cent, over its last close. On weekly basis, it has stumbled by 945.65 points or 3.21 pct.

The 50-share broder NSE-Nifty also plummeted by a hefty 128.25 points, or 1.46 per cent to end at 8,647.75 after touching an intra-day high of 8,849.75 and low of 8,631.75.