SENSEX CRASH ON CHINESE AND GREEK WOOS

Stock market benchmark Sensex today tumbled over 483 points, its biggest fall in over a month, to settle below the 28,000-level as rout in Shanghai shares and fears of Greek's eurozone exit rattled investors.
With investors indulging in widespread selling, including in metal and auto shares, the NSE benchmark Nifty also crashed below 8,400-point mark. A fresh weakness in the rupee against the US dollar also dampened the trading sentiment, equity brokers said. Investor sentiment was badly hit following a major sell-off in other Asian markets with a nearly 6 per cent crash in Shanghai despite additional measures announced by the government to shore up the tumbling market, they added. 

The 30-share index commenced lower and dipped below the psychological 28,000-mark to touch a low of 27,635.72 before ending at 27,687.72, a fall of 483.97 points, or 1.72 per cent.
This is the biggest one-day fall of the Sensex since a plunge of 661 points recorded over a month ago on June 2.
Selling was widespread in the market, which pulled down all the sectoral indices by up to 3.89 per cent.
The broader NSE Nifty also succumbed to all-round selling and slipped below the 8,400-mark to close the session 147.75 points, or 1.74 per cent, to close at 8,363.05. Intra-day, it hovered between 8,457.50 and 8,341.40.

Chinese stocks sink

Continuing their freefall despite government measures, China's stocks tumbled sharply today as investor confidence shattered by the recent USD three trillion losses led to share-dumping to prevent further losses. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index sank 5.9 per cent to finish at 3,507.19 points while the Shenzhen Component Index slumped 2.94 per cent to close at 11,040.89points. Losers outnumbered winners by 690 to 12 in Shanghai, and by 609 to 146 in Shenzhen. More than 1,000 shares on the two bourses dived by the daily limit of 10 per cent. More than half of the roughly 2,800 companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen had suspended trading as of today to avoid further losses, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Yesterday a total of 203 listed companies suspended trading. All industry groups lost ground, with aviation manufacturing, medical care, internet and transportation companies plunging by the daily limit of 10 per cent, the report said. With the benchmark Shanghai stock index falling more than 30 per cent from June peak, Chinese government has unveiled a raft of supportive measures to prop up the market, but the efforts have done little to halt the decline so far. It also ordered an inquiry to determine the reasons into precipitous fall. Market analysts say that the losses since last few weeks amounting to an estimated USD 3.2 trillion were unprecedented. The wave of listed companies seeking a suspension in trading comes at a time when Chinese have been suffering considerable losses over the past several weeks, state-run Global Times reported. On Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech that China is confident and able to deal with the risks and challenges faced by its economy. A series of unprecedented emergency rescue measures were implemented over the weekend, such as the suspension of the IPOs of 28 companies, allowing 21 Chinese brokerages to invest 120 billion yuan (USD19.3 billion) in blue-chip exchange- traded funds (ETFs) and Central Huijin, a unit of China's sovereign wealth fund, vowing to buy A-shares. However only a limited number of blue-chip companies were able to directly benefit from the funds. Today the government said Chinese insurance companies will be able to invest up to 10 per cent of their assets in a single "blue chip" stock, up from the previous five per cent. Meanwhile, the state-backed China Securities Finance Co will "increase" stock purchases of small and medium-sized companies, with liquidity support from the country's central bank. Separately, China's state asset regulator ordered the country's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) not to sell shares in their listed companies amid "abnormal market volatility".