Sensex falls 770 pts, ends at 6-mnth low

The stock markets collapsed across the world on Thursday and the benchmark Sensex on the Bombay Stock Exchange tanked over 770 points to close at six and a half month low of 15,357.35 points.

Marketmen said an onslaught of selling by funds gripped the markets as fears of recession in US, the world`s largest economy, were further augmented and the latest data of industrial growth in India also painted a gloomy picture.

Besides, the US dollar tumbled to the record low level against the yen since 1995, dampening the market sentiments across the world, they noted. Almost all the Asian markets were trading lower on Thursday.

The 30-share Sensex, which commenced the day on a weak note, tumbled by 770.63 points to 15,357.35. The lowest closing recorded before today was on August 31 at 15,318.60 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also dropped by 258.40 points to 4,623.60 as most of the heavyweight stocks led by banking sector yielded significant ground.

The BSE barometer touched the day`s low of 15,228.99 and a high of 15,873.28 points.

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, only Hindustan Lever escaped the battering with a minor gain of 70 paise Rs 222.45.

The government had yesterday released the data which said industrial growth had plunged to to 5.3 per cent for January from 11.6 per cent in the same month last year, indicating cooling in economy,

Traders said the market sentiment was further hit by the weak global markets on concerns that the US Federal Reserve would need to do more to solve the credit crisis.