Market Rout: Sensex down 2,000 points, rupee weakens 62 paise

The BSE Sensex plunged 2,000 points, as the lockdown extension came into effect on Monday. Weakness in the global stock markets also weighed on the Indian indices, analysts said.

Sensex closed at 31,715.35, lower by 2,002.27 points or 5.94 per cent from the previous close of 33,717.62.

It had opened at 32,748.14 and touched an intra-day high of 32,748.14 and a low of 31,632.02 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 9,293.50, lower by 566.40 or 5.74 per cent from its previous close.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said: "Indian equity markets snapped its four day rally and plunged sharply on the back ofweak global and domestic cues."

He noted that market sentiments got dampened as tensions flared up between US and China once again with US President Donald Trump threatening to impose new tariffs on China over coronavirus.

On the domestic front, muted quarterly results, zero sales from auto OEMs, an extension of lockdown by another two weeks and contraction in manufacturing activity led to profit-booking.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, noted that broad market indices like the BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap indices lost less, thereby outperforming the Sensex and Nifty.

Major Asian markets have closed on a negative note and European indices like the FTSE, CAC and DAX have ended lower, he said.

On the currency front, Motilal Oswal's Khemka noted that the Indian rupee depreciated on Monday tracking heavy sell-off in the equity markets.

The rupee settled at 75.72 per dollar, weakening by 62 paise from its previous close.

Heavy outflow of foreign investments from the stock markets also was a reason for the slump in both the stock markets and the currency market.

Net outflow of foreign institutional investments (FII) stood at Rs 1,373.98 crore on Monday while that of domestic institutional investments was Rs 1,661.61 crore.