Sensex swings 1.3k pts, ends below 82k

MUMBAI: Dalal Street witnessed extreme volatility on Wednesday with the sensex rallying from more than 1,000 points down to over 300 points up within a couple of hours. The index finally settled 271 points down at 81,910 points, its first close below the 82,000 mark since Oct 8 last year.Geopolitical and global economic factors were the main drivers of the market during the day. In addition, the weakness of the rupee that fell below the 91.5-to-dollar mark for the first time ever, also rattled investors.The day’s slide left investors poorer by Rs 1.8 lakh crore with India’s market capitalisation now at Rs 454 lakh crore, BSE data showed.According to Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments, markets were gripped by volatility as global risk factors dampened sentiment. “However, value buying towards the close helped the market recover some early losses. In this challenging environment, tepid earnings from the banking and IT sectors are adding to the overall pressure on equities,” Nair said. “The weakening (rupee) and uncertainties surrounding trade ties may prolong this volatility.“Foreign portfolio investors led the day’s selling, as had been the trend in the past few weeks. So far in the year, foreign funds have net sold stocks worth about Rs 30,345 crore, NSDL data showed. In Wednesday’s session, FPIs had a net selling figure of Rs 1,787 crore, BSE data showed.Markets will take cues from the remarks made by the US President Donald Trump at Davos in Switzerland, that comes after the recent tensions with European allies over Greenland, with his push to acquire the territory becoming a key focus at the forum, said Siddhartha Khemka of Motilal Oswal Financial Services.