Rupee closes at 73.77 against the dollar after breaching 74 mark for the first time
The Sensex dropped 792 points to close at 34,376 while the Nifty 50 shed 283 points to close at 10,316.
The rupee breached the 74 mark against the dollar on Thursday soon after the Reserve Bank of India decided to keep key interest rates unchanged. The Indian currency lost 55 paise to trade at 74.13 within an hour of the decision, and closed at 73.77. The currency had earlier risen to 73.52 on the anticipation that the central bank would raise interest rates.
The Indian currency had plunged to a new low of 73.77 on Thursday before closing at 73.58, marking its third straight session of losses.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex dropped 792 points to close at 34,376 while Nifty 50 declined 283 points to close at 10,316. The benchmark indices posted their worst two-day fall since demonetisation in 2016.
IndusInd Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and HDFC Bank were the top gainers on Sensex. Stocks of ONGC, Adani Ports, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries performed poorly on the index.
Titan, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Infratel and IndusInd Bank were the top five gainers on Nifty 50 while Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, Gail, ONGC and Bajaj Finance were the top losers on the index.
On Thursday, shares of oil marketing companies plunged after the Centre announced a Rs 2.50 per litre cut in fuel prices and asked firms to absorb Rs 1 of this reduced rate.