Sensex continues downward spiral, plunges over 500 points in opening trade

The Sensex continued with its downward spiral after the Budget plunging545 points to trade below the 35,000 mark.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share barometer stood at 34,520.80 inearly tradeon heavy losses in metal, realty, capital goods, banking and oil and gas stocks amid a global rout in equity markets.

The Nifty tumbled 173.80 pts to 10,586.80 in opening trade amid a global sell-off.

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Asian markets dropped over oneper cent following deep losses on Wall Street last week after a strong US jobs report and rising Treasury yields fanned fears of interest rate hike quicker than thought.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.82 per cent, Japan's Nikkei shed 2.43 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index down 0.33 per cent in their late morning deals.

The markets weren't too happy with the government's Budget on Thursday with the Sensex closing 58 points down at 35,906.66 while the Nifty slipped 10.80 points to end at 11,016.90 on Budget day.

This was because of the imposition of long-term capital gains of 10 per cent on equities.

On February 2, a day after the Budget, the Sensex had crashed 839.91 points to end at 35,066.75 and the Nifty sank 256.30 points to 10,760.60.

The BSE Sensex had dived 839 points on Friday barely holding on to the 35K mark, the Nifty too nosedived plunging over 250 points.

Sensex ended the week at 35,066.75 and the Nifty sank 256.30 points to end at 10,760.60 on Friday.

It was fifth steepest fall in ten years. The Bank Nifty was also down around 3 per cent with the Nifty Midcap and BSE small cap also at a low, down 4-5 per cent.

(With inputs from PTI)