Sensex tanks 500 points; Nifty falls 150 pts on US Fed comments

The S&P BSE Sensex hit a fresh intraday low on Thursday as selling pressure intensified with the gap-down opening of European peers. The global markets rattled in trade after the US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the Fed could begin to taper down its key stimulus program later this year.

At 01:50 pm, the 30-share index was at 18,758.60, down 487.10 points or 2.53 per cent. It touched a high of 19,069.20 and a low of 18,744.36 in trade today.

The Nifty was at 5,666.60, down 155.65 points or 2.67 per cent. It touched a high of 5,755 and a low of 5,660.05 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index was down 1.77 per cent and the S&P BSE Smallcap Index declined 1.65 per cent.

The S&P BSE Realty Index was down 4.79 per cent, the S&P BSE Metal Index was 4.57 per cent lower, the S&P BSE Bankex declined 3.73 per cent and the S&P BSE Power Index was down 3.03 per cent. 

Jindal Steel (7.73 per cent), DLF (7.27 per cent), Hindalco (6.52 per cent), Jaiprakash Associates (6.39 per cent) and Tata SteelBSE -5.52 % (6.17 per cent) were among the top Nifty losers. 

Sun Pharmaceuticals (1.12 per cent) and Ambuja Cements (0.16 per cent) were the only index gainers. 

The European markets, as expected, opened with a gap-down on concerns of gradual withdrawal of US bond program. The FTSE 100 was down 1.66 per cent, the CAC 40 was 2.34 per cent lower and the DAX declined 1.94 per cent.