The markets have tumbled sharply in the last half-hour of trades after news of a major earthquake in Japan hit headlines. As per reports, an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale struck Japan this morning, and now a Tsunami with tides measuring 7 metre has hit Japan.
The Sensex which had rebounded into the positive zone to touch a high of 18,368, slipped back into red even as it tried to factor in a better-than-expected IIP numbers at 3.7%. The selling intensifed in the last half-hour, and the index is now down 233 points at 18,094. The NSE Nifty has shed 78 points at 5418.
Gainers on the BSE benchmark were ONGC at Rs 281 up 2% and Tata Power at Rs 1,195 up marginally by 0.2%.
Reliance Communications at Rs 95 highest loser on the Sensex down 4.4%, Jaiprakash Associates at Rs 82 and TCS at Rs 1,072 both down 3%.
The broader markets were in line with the Sensex, with the Small-cap at 7,902 and the Mid-cap at 6,513 both down slight more than 1%.
All the sectoral indices were in the red, with metal stocks languishing at the bottom of the chart.
The BSE metal index declined 2.3% at 15,313 on fears the earthquake, and resultant tsunami in Japan, will dampen the demand for metals in the Asian markets.
Top losers in this space were JSW Steel at Rs 904 down 4%, Sterlite Industries at Rs 160 and Tata Steel at Rs 582 both down 3%.
The IT and Power indices were the other major laggards in trade; the IT index was down 2% at 6,138, while the Power index slipped a little over 1% at 2,555.
Amongst the IT stocks, MphasiS was the top loser at Rs 441 down 4%, while TCS at Rs 1,074 shed 3% and HCL Technologies at Rs 449 was off 2%.