Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell by 1 per cent on Wednesday on weak global market trends and continuous foreign fund outflows.
Fitch Ratings has downgraded the United States government's credit rating, citing rising debt at the federal, state, and local levels and a "steady deterioration in standards of governance" over the past two decades.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 676.53 points or 1.02 per cent to settle at 65,782.78. During the day, it cracked 1,027.63 points or 1.54 per cent to 65,431.68. The NSE Nifty fell by 207 points or 1.05 per cent to end at 19,526.55.
In today's fall, investors' lost Rs 3.56 lakh crore, as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies slipped to Rs 303.24 lakh crore, from Rs 306.80 lakh crore in the previous session.
From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel declined 3.45 per cent, followed by Tata Motors which fell by 3.19 per cent. Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, JSW Steel, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel were among the other major laggards.
Nestle, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever and Tech Mahindra were the gainers. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.
European markets were trading in the red. The US markets ended mostly in the negative territory on Tuesday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 92.85 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
(With PTI inputs)
