TNI Bureau: The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty benchmark indices had a gap-down start on Monday amid a direct decline in rupee and rising recession fears. Key indices Nifty50 shed over 200 points to trade below 17,000 levels and the S&P BSE Sensex declined over 800 points to trade at 57,282 levels.
Weakness spread to broader markets as well, as Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices dropped up to 2 per cent.
All sectors bleeded red with Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Realty indices bearing the brunt of the worst selloff.
Amid a surge in US bond yields and the US dollar index, the rupee on Monday opened 0.68 per cent lower to hit a fresh record low of 81.55 against the greenback.
The local unit had reached a record low of 81.2250 on Friday, prompting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to sell dollars, according to traders. The RBI’s intervention had aided the rupee to turn briefly higher on Friday.