Mumbai, Sep. 5 (PTI): Benchmark Sensex spiralled lower for the sixth straight session Wednesday as a weak rupee and widespread selloff in emerging market assets dented risk appetite.
The BSE Sensex tumbled 139.61 points to end at an over two-week low of 38,018.31, while the wider NSE Nifty slipped 43.35 points to 11,476.95.
The Sensex has now lost 878.32 points in six sessions -- its longest string of losses in six months.
Global stocks declined as renewed trade war concerns and macro headwinds in Turkey, Argentina and other emerging markets took a toll on investor confidence.
On the domestic front, the rupee crashed to a fresh record low of 71.96 against the US dollar in intra-day trade on the back of rising bond yields.
Market sentiment was further dampened after a monthly survey showed that India's services sector activity fell in August from July's 21-month peak as new business orders declined.
The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index fell from July's peak of 54.2 to 51.5 in August owing to weakest growth in new work in three months.
The 30-share Sensex, after opening a shade higher and advancing to 38,250.61 in early trade, quickly slipped below the 38,000-mark.
It touched a low of 37,774.42 during the day, before finally ending at an over two-week low of 38,018.31 -- down 139.61 points or 0.37 per cent.
The 50-issue NSE Nifty too cracked below the 10,400-mark and hit a low of 11,393.85 before finishing 43.35 points, or 0.38 per cent down at 11,476.95.
Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 21.41 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares to the tune of Rs 32.64 crore on Tuesday, provisional data showed.
"Global headwinds coupled with risk arising on account of surging oil prices and weak trend in EM currencies dragged the market.
"The selling pressure was witnessed across the market in which highly valued consumption and mid-cap stocks were impacted the most. Investors are likely to remain cautious as spike in yield and widening deficit will add to the risk of inflation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
HUL was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling 2.45 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank at 1.68 per cent.
Other losers included Bharti Airtel 1.36 per cent, RIL 1.33 per cent, Hero MotoCorp 1.03 per cent, Coal India 0.88, L&T 0.82 per cent, Infosys 0.80 per cent, HDFC 0.78 per cent and TCS 0.72 per cent.
In contrast, Yes Bank rose 2.93 per cent, Vedanta 2.27 per cent, Adani Ports 1.53 per cent, Wipro 1.44 per cent, Sun Pharma 1.41 per cent, Tata Motors 1.34 per cent and Bajaj Auto 0.77 per cent, among others.
Sector-wise, the BSE telecom index emerged as the worst performer by sliding 2.23 per cent, followed by consumer durables 1.85 per cent, FMCG 1.10 per cent, capital goods 1.02 per cent, energy 0.98 per cent, realty 0.86 per cent, teck 0.60 per cent, oil and gas 0.47 per cent, IT 0.37 per cent, infrastructure 0.34 per cent, PSU 0.33 per cent and bankex 0.07 per cent.
On the other hand, metal rose by 1.13 per cent, healthcare 0.66 per cent, auto 0.28 per cent and power 0.10 per cent.
The broader markets saw investors cutting down their portfolios, which pulled down the BSE mid-cap index by 0.61 per cent and the small-cap gauge by 0.52 per cent.
In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 2.56 per cent. Shanghai Composite Index edged lower by 1.68 per cent, Japan Nikkei fell 0.51 per cent and Singapore slipped 1.69 per cent.
European stocks too were trading lower on trade war concerns.
Paris CAC 40 fell 0.96 per cent while Frankfurt's DAX was lower by 0.60 per cent in early deals. London's FTSE too shed 0.43 per cent.
