The NSE said it is investigating the matter and the abnormal orders that resulted in multiple trades at low prices.
In a statement after the incident, which halted the trade in cash markets for about 15 minutes, NSE said, "The market circuit filter got triggered due to entry of 59 erroneous orders which resulted in multiple trades for an aggregate value of over Rs 650 crore.
"These orders have been entered by a trading member Emkay Global Financial Services on behalf of an institutional client.
"These non-algo market orders have been entered for an erroneous quantity which resulted in executing trades at multiple price points across the entire order book thereby causing the circuit filter to be triggered. These orders have been identified to a specific dealer terminal," it added.
On the other hand, BSE said the market at the exchange was working fine and there were no technical or other issues at the bourse. However, the BSE index Sensex also fell by about 200 points in reaction to the plunge in Nifty, as there are many common stocks on the two indices.
The incident occurred on a day when expectations were high for a sharp upward rally on the bourses following various reform measures approved by the Union Cabinet last evening, including on FDI in insurance and pension sectors.
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At 1220 hours, the markets recovered some lost ground and Sensex was trading 177 points down at 18,880.98 points. The Nifty was down 58.35 points at 5,729.25 points.
Earlier in the morning, Nifty had fallen sharply by about 800 points or 16 per cent to a low of 4,997.6. MORE