Indian markets tumbled by over one per cent to close in the red on Wednesday for the second consecutive day, dragged down by rupee weakening to hit 60 to a dollar again renewing scepticism among FIIs.
The BSE Sensex closed at 19,178, down 1.47 per cent or 286 points from its previous close and the NSE Nifty closed at 5,771 down 1.48 per cent from its previous close.
Except FMCG and healthcare all sectoral indices closed in the red on the BSE led by the realty index which tumbled the most by 4.76 per cent followed by the metals and PSU indices which fell by about 3 per cent. Banks too were hit after the central bank mandated them to increase provisioning against their currency exposure.
Alex Mathews, Head Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said: "Tracking the weak global cues, the markets today opened on a weak note. Profit booking in the US markets and the weak data from China made global markets trade lower. Apart from the weak global cues, fall in the rupee and weak services PMI data made the markets close on a negative note."
The HSBC Services PMI data for the month June fell to 51.7 against 53.6 in May. Decline in the new business orders and weak economic conditions were attributed as causes for the fall.
On the global front signs of slowing Chinese growth and escalating political tensions in Portugal, one of the euro zone's crisis hot-spots also made investors nervous and led to a slide in global shares.
On the NSE, Lupin, Jindal Steel, Sun Pharma, Ambuja Cements and ITC were the top gainers while JP Associates, Bank of Baroda, ITC, IDFC, PNB and Sesagoa were the top losers.