Registering its heaviest loss this year, the benchmark Sensex on Thursday tanked about 555 points to close at 24,851.83 -- a 19-month low -- as China's move to weaken the yuan faster to fight a slowing economy triggered a massive global sell-off.
The NSE Nifty felt the heat too as it cracked below the 7,600-mark as selling picked up across sectors. The losses came amid concerns over a slowing growth in China, the world's second-largest economy, spooking investors worldwide, and pressure on its currency from capital outflows.
China's central bank has lowered the yuan against the US dollar by 0.51 per cent to 6.5646, the lowest since March 2011. The 30-share BSE index ended the day with a steep fall of 554.50 points, or 2.18 per cent, at 24,851.83, its lowest closing since June 4, 2014, when it closed at 24,805.83. The Sensex has now lost 1,309.07 points in four straight sessions. The broader NSE Nifty settled at 7,568.30, a sharp fall of 172.70 points, or 2.23 per cent. Asian markets went into a tailspin, with Shanghai shares crashing 7.32 per cent, forcing authorities to suspend trading less than half an hour after opening as the new circuit-breaker tripped for the second time in a week. All the 30 stocks in the Sensex team led by BHEL (6.98%), Tata Steel (6.85%) and Tata Motors (6.15%) ended in the red.