Mumbai: The markets plunged for the fifth consecutive day to a three-month low and the rupee bore the brunt of this fall by losing 11 paise to close at a two year low of Rs 66.88 on Tuesday after the Chinese export figures showed a drop of four per cent and commodity stocks took a beating and oil prices touched multi-year lows.
Adding to this was concern over the passing of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill as the Congress obstructed Parliament over the National Herald case where Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul were asked to appear in Court next week.
According to analysts, fresh bickering between the government and the Congress over the National Herald case could jeopardise the prospects of GST Bill in the Winter Session of Parliament. “Further, growing concerns that GST in its present form may not be the panacea that industry has been long expecting, is also keeping investors cautious,” said Anand James co-head technical research desk at Geojit BNP Paribas.
The precipitous fall came towards the last hour of trading. Earlier the markets followed the weakness in the Asian markets. The European markets were also in red because of the fall in the mining stocks after a weak Chinese data. The Sensex sank 219.78 points while the Nifty nose dived 63.70 points.
“The markets were holding until the Chinese export data was released and commodities fell,” said Ambareesh Baliga, independent market analyst. The Nifty has broken crucial support levels and if this continues tomorrow it could well lose up to 200 points, he said. Mr James, however, felt that the fall in oil prices could give support to the rupee.
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