The Indian benchmark indices started the week on a weak note because of negative global cues, causing the Indian rupee to collapse to a record low of 69.91 against the dollar at the close on Monday.
The BSE Sensex touched a low of 37,559.26 in early trade to close at 37,644.90, lower from Friday’s close by 224.33 points. The National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 was at 11,355.75 points, lower by 73.75 since Friday’s close.
Asian markets suffered as the Turkish lira fell almost 9% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at 21,857.43, down by 440.65 points, while Taiwan TSEC 50 Index closed at 10,748.92, down by 234.76 points. The Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 9.44 points lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at 430.05.
The slump came days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked citizens to exchange gold and dollars into the lira as the country’s currency dropped nearly 19% due to worsening relations with the United States.
On August 10, US President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs on metal imports from Turkey. Erdogan on Sunday accused foreign countries of waging a war on Turkey, The Guardian reported. He said his government would take appropriate trade measures to counter the Trump administration’s plan.
Meanwhile, domestic markets were also affected ahead of the release of consumer price index data later in the day. Industrial output rose 7% in June compared to the same month last year, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed on Friday.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Coal India, while the stocks that lost the most were Vedanta, State Bank of India, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation.
On the Nifty 50, GAIL was the top gainer, followed by Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Grasim Industries, and HCL Technologies. The top losers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Yes Bank, Vedanta, and Indian Oil Corporation.
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