Closing Bell: Sensex falls 953 points, Nifty down 311 points

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses for the fourth consecutive session with frontline indices ending with a cut of over one and a half percent amid weak global cues coupled with a depreciating rupee. Markets made a gap down opening as traders remain worried over the falling rupee. Sentiments also remained dampened on a report that the Reserve Bank of India is set to raise interest rates again this week on September 30.

The Sensex tanked 953.70 points or 1.64% to settle at 57,145.22. During the day, it plummeted 1,060.68 points or 1.82% to 57,038.24. The Nifty fell 311.05 points or 1.80% to end at 17,016.30.

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The broader indices ended in red with the BSE Mid cap index declining 2.84% and the Small cap index down by 3.33%. The lone gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.14%, while Metal down by 4.50%, Realty down by 4.29%, Auto down by 3.86%, Utilities down by 3.72%, Power down by 3.71% were the top losing indices on BSE.

Major laggards from the Sensex pack were Maruti Suzuki down by 5.49%, Tata Steel 4.22%, ITC 3.96%, Axis Bank 3.40%, NTPC 3.35%, Bajaj Finance 3.34%, IndusInd Bank 2.85%, Mahindra & Mahindra 2.83%, Bajaj Finserv 2.60% and Reliance 2.54%.

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Among the gainers were HCL Tech up by 1.28%, Asian Paints up by 1.14%, Infosys up by 1.06%, UltraTech Cement up by 0.50%, TCS up by 0.40%, Nestle up by 0.18% and Wipro up by 0.09%.

The rupee plunged 58 paise to close at an all-time low of 81.67 against the US dollar as the strengthening of the American currency overseas and risk-averse sentiment among investors weighed on the local unit.

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Asian markets ended mostly lower with the Shanghai Composite down by 1.20%, the Hang Seng down by 0.44%, the Nikkei 225 down by 2.66%, and the KOSPI Composite down by 3.02%.

European markets were trading in the red in afternoon deals. The US stock markets ended in negative territory on Friday.

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Brent crude, the international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.75% to $85.50 per barrel.

According to data available with BSE, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,899.68 crore on Friday.