Zee Media Bureau
The BSE Sensex and Nifty fell for a third straight session on Thursday, heading towards their lowest close in nearly five months on continued selling by foreign investors on worries over retrospective tax, while weak Asian markets also weighed.
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth a net Rs 16.99 billion (USD 265.80 million) on Wednesday, adding to their USD 360.88 million sell off in the previous session, exchange and regulatory data showed. Overseas investors have been net sellers this month with a net outflow of USD 693.8 million, the data showed.
Falls also tracked Asian stocks, led by losses on Wall Street, while a rise in euro zone debt yields amid a global bond rout kept the euro near a two-month peak versus the dollar.
The rupee fell to its lowest in 20 months, weighed down by concerns over the government`s taxation policies that threaten to reduce the allure of local assets for foreign institutions.
"There is clarity on tax-related issues. Direction is missing in the government`s policy decisions. We expect weakness to persist in the near-term," said Suresh Parmar, head, institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets.
The benchmark BSE index was down 245.98 points or 0.92 percent at 26,471.39, while the broader NSE index fell 1.02 percent to 8,014.50 after hitting intra-day low of 7,997.15.
The Sensex lost 773.223 points in the previous two sessions -- including 722.77 in yesterday's trade -- its second biggest single-day fall since current government took over.
Both indexes were headed towards their lowest closing level since Dec. 17, 2014.
Brokers said sustained capital outflows by foreign funds on worries over MAT and delay in passage of key reform bills and muted quarter earnings by blue-chips so far dampened market sentiment.
With Agency Inputs
