Sensex nosedives 900 pts on global worries

MUMBAI: Across the board sell-off, on account of weak global cues, saw indices closing over 6 per cent lower. Mid-caps and small-cap stocks were the worst hit. Indian benchmarks grossly underperformed its peers globally. Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at day’s low of 14,740.12, down over 900 points or 6.47 per cent. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 4,484.55 down 5.50 per cent, worst close for the benchmark after September 6, 2007. It touched a low of 4482.10. BSE Mid-cap Index ended at 6,583.45, down 478.22 points or 7.26 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index fell to 7,515.98 down 563.52 points or 6.97 per cent. ICICI Bank (down 15.06%) was the worst hit. Jaiprakash Associates (down 12.7%), HDFC (11.28%), Hindalco Industries (9.39%), Reliance Energy (8.68%), Tata Steel (8.54%), Grasim Industries (8.15%) and DLF (7.96%) were the other index losers. Across BSE, 2395 declines outnumbered 289 advances.