Surging yen slams Indian markets, Sensex crashes 250 points

The benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled 250 points and the NSE Nifty dipped below the 7,800-mark in early trade on Monday on across-the-board selling by investors, tracking heavy losses in Japan as a surging yen hits exporters. The 30-share index fell by 209.74 points or 0.82 per cent to 25,396.88 with sectoral indices led by power, realty, banking, IT, technology, auto and capital goods in deep red.

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were off day's lows in noon trade but were still down nearly 0.50 per cent amid a selloff in banking stocks and weak global cues. The Sensex was down nearly 150 points while Nifty remained near 7,800 levels.  At day's low, the Sensex had slumped over 250 points.  Private lender ICICI Bank led the selling in the Nifty50 index, falling nearly 4 per cent. ICICI Bank, which reported its Q4 earnings last week, put out details on corporate exposure post markets closed on Friday. The lender said 4.8 per cent of its assets, or Rs 44,000 crore, fall in below-investment grade.

ICICI Bank's disclosure on troubled assets led many brokerages to downgrade the lender's FY17 earnings per share estimates. Morgan Stanley cut ICICI Bank's FY17 EPS by nearly 10 per cent, while Deutsche Bank reduced its EPS estimate by nearly 12 per cent. CLSA revised ICICI Bank's EPS by a sharp 25 per cent. ICICI Bank was the top Nifty loser. The selloff in the stock put pressure on other banking stocks such as state-run State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, which are yet to report Q4 numbers. SBI and Bank of Baroda traded nearly 1 per cent lower. 

Also adding to the subdued sentiment, India's manufacturing PMI slowed to 50.2 in April from 52.4 in March. IT stocks also came under strong selling pressure with TCS, Wipro and Tech Mahindra down over 1 per cent. However, advances in auto and metal stocks helped Indian markets cap the losses.  Maruti Suzuki rose 0.50 per cent while Ashok Leyland gained 1 per cent after announcing strong April sales numbers. 

Hindalco was the top gainer among the Nifty50 pack, rising 4 per cent. Another commodity stock, ONGC also rose over 1 per cent. Domestic markets were also weighed down because of selling in global stocks. Asian shares fell on Monday, uninspired after a downbeat day on Wall Street and led by a 3 per cent plunge in Japan's Nikkei after the dollar notched a fresh 18-month low against the yen.
 

• yen
• markets
• crash
• sensex