Amid widespread
selling pressure, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 885.60 points or 1.08 per
cent to close at 80,981.95.
During the day, it
nosedived 998.64 points or 1.21 per cent to hit an intra-day low of 80,868.91. The
broader Nifty of NSE slipped 293.20 points or 1.17 per cent to end at
24,717.70.
It fell 324.05 points
or 1.29 per cent to 24,686.85 during the session. From the Sensex stocks,
Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel,
Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL
Technologies and Infosys were the laggards.
HDFC Bank, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Kotak Mahindra
Bank, Nestle India and Asian Paints were among the gainers.
Global oil benchmark
Brent crude rose 0.77 per cent to $80.13 a barrel.
Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2,089.28 crore
in the capital markets on Thursday.