The drone attack on oil plants in Saudi Arabia continued to impact the market as the BSE S&P Sensex closed 642 points down. Sectorally, banking and auto stocks too suffered
Mumbai: Geopolitical tensions and weak global cues led to equity indices coming under sharp selling pressure for the second consecutive day on Tuesday and wiping out all previous week's gains.
The Nifty 50 slid by 186 points to 10,818 while rampant across-the-board selling led the BSE S&P Sensex to close 642 points or 1.7% down to 36,481.
At the National Stock Exchange, all sectoral indices were in the red with Nifty auto down by 3.8%, realty by 3.7%, PSU bank by 3.6% and metal by 2.6%.
Shares of State Trading Corporation (STC) and Metals & Miners Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) plunged by 19.6% and 16.5% respectively following reports that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has decided to close down the state-owned trading firms.
Also read: Sensex, Nifty drop, oil corporations under pressure after Saudi attack
Sectorally, auto stocks suffered the most with Hero MotoCorp skidding by 6.2%, Tata Motors by 4.9%, Maruti by 4.6%, Eicher Motors by 3.3% and Bajaj Auto by 3%.
Banking stocks too were under pressure with Axis bank down by 4.6%, State Bank of India by 3.7% and IndusInd Bank by 3%.
Market sentiment has been weak since two Saudi Aramco plants at the heart of the kingdom's oil industry, including the world's biggest petroleum processing facility, were attacked by drones on September 14.
India's current account and fiscal deficit could take a hit if oil prices continue to rise after the attack, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said on Monday.
The attack on the two plants -- Abqaiq oil processing facility and Khurais oil field -- resulted in a temporary shortage of 5.7 million barrels per day which is 5% of the global crude supply or 50% of the kingdom's oil output.
Also read: Oil prices rise over 15% after attack on Saudi facilities disrupts global supply
The Indian rupee has also weakened sharply and moved towards Rs 72 against the US dollar amid rising demand for the greenback vis-a-vis other currencies overseas and concerns over soaring crude prices following the drone attacks.
Global markets also turned cautious ahead of the two-day meeting of US Federal Open Market Committee. Many experts said the Fed may cut interest rate by 25 basis points.
Meanwhile, oil traded in the negative on Tuesday in Asia as it partly erased yesterday's gains as investors awaited updates regarding the resumption of operations in Saudi Arabia. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.96% to $68.39 per barrel.
Asia markets were mixed in the trade as investor sentiment remained cautious with China's Shanghai falling by 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declining by 1.2%.
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