Sensex Falls 550 Points, Settles Near 79,390, Nifty Closes Below 24,210 Points

Sensex tanked by 553.

12 points, closing at 79,389.

06, while Nifty tumbled 135.

50 points to settle at 24,205.

35 on Thursday.

Benchmark equity indices were trading deep in red, amid mixed global cues.

At 1 PM, the BSE Sensex was down 529.

57 points, or 0.

66 per cent, at 79,412.

61, while the Nifty 50 was at 24,202.

80, lower by 138.

05 points, or 0.

57 per cent.

Global Cues Markets in the Asia Pacific region were down on Thursday morning as investors await the Bank of Japan’s rate decision, as well as key business activity figures from China.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the BOJ to hold rates at 0.

25 per cent, although the statement will be parsed for any clues on the timing of its next rate hike.

China’s manufacturing PMI came in at 50.

1 as compared to expectations of a reading of 49.

9.

The manufacturing PMI had contracted to 49.

8 in the previous month.

Following that, the Shanghai Composite was trading lower by 0.

33 per cent, while the CSI300 was down 0.

22 per cent.

However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, the only frontline index trading higher in Asia, was ahead by 0.

19 per cent.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was down 0.

47 per cent, while the broad based Topix slipped 0.

49 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.

24 per cent, leading losses in Asia, while the small cap Kosdaq was down 0.

20 per cent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading lower by 0.

36 per cent.

.