Taking cues from Asian markets, specially China, Nifty today dropped by 172 points to settle at 7,791.30 following across the board selling pressure led by Banking and Financial, Infra, Pharma and Auto stocks.
Negative cues from Chinese market worsened the sentiment in domestic market. Trading in mainland China was halted for the rest of the day after the CSI 300 Index plunged more than 7 per cent.
As per the new norms, a move of 5 per cent in the CSI 300 triggers a 15-minute halt for stocks, options and index futures, while a move of 7 per cent closes the market for the rest of the day.
Weak manufacturing data and a rapidly weakening Chinese yuan were the trigger for a sharp slide in Chinese stocks. European stocks edged lower as a steep drop in China's equity market rattled global equities. Trading in the US stock index futures pointed to a sharp slide in the US stocks at the opening bell.
The 50-share Nifty resumed lower at 7,924.55 and hovered in a range of 7,937.55 and 7,781.10 before ending at 7,791.30, showing a loss of 171.90 points, or 2.16 per cent.
Among the sectoral front, PSU fell by (3.50 per cent), followed by Banking by (2.58 per cent), Pharma (2.05 per cent), Auto by (2.23 per cent), Infra (2.40 per cent),among others.
Meanwhile, mid-cap and small-cap indices declined by 0.82 and 1.19 per cent, respectively.
Major losers were Tata Motors, which tumbled 6.18 per cent, followed by Idea by 5.31 per cent, Bank of Baroda by 4.94 per cent, Hindalco by 4.89 per cent, PNB by 4.08 and Bharti Airtel by 3.95 per cent.
Key gainers included HUL, up 0.29 per cent, AsianPaints by 0.23 per cent, Wipro by 0.22 per cent and HCL tech 0.01 per cent.
Turnover in cash segment fell to Rs 17,179.35 crore from Rs 12,790.77 crore last Friday.
A total of 11,940.71 lakh shares changed hands in 74,98,588 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 97,24,199 crore.
