Bear hug: Sensex falls 164

It was advantage bears on Thursday’s stock markets. Weak global markets, fears of a slowdown in FII inflows and a broad-based fall in Indian ADRs pulled down the benchmark Sensex by 164 points on Thursday. Even as auto, IT and metal stocks led the fall, most blue chips ended in the red and a host of small-cap, mid-cap and penny stocks lost ground.

Indicating the tightening liquidity position, the 30-share Sensex plunged 163.66 points or 1.9 per cent to 8,376.90. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 52.25 points or 2 per cent to 2,537.30.

The Sensex plunged about 110 points within minutes of trading commencement, tracking weak global markets and a setback in Indian ADRs on Wednesday. Many other global markets also turned weak amidst concern over the US economy and interest rate rise.

Asian and European stocks stepped lower today with tech counters undermined by a fall in their US peers after disappointing results from Apple.