US jobs data spooks Dalal Street; Sensex crashes 600 points

MUMBAI: Indian benchmark indices tanked over 2 per cent led by losses in banks, technology and metals after a strong jobs report in the US indicated that a rate hike is coming.

The US nonfarm payrolls rose to 2,95,000 in February, higher than estimated 240,000 jobs. The next US Fed meeting will be on March 18 and if it comes out with a strong statement on rate hike then further weakness can be expected.

The 30-share index closed at 28,844.78, down 604.17 points or 2.05 per cent. It touched a high of 29,321.06 and a low of 28,799.76 in trade today.

The Nifty ended at 8,756.75, down 181 points or 2.03 per cent. It touched a high of 8,891.30 and a low of 8,740.45 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index fell 1.33 per cent and the S&P BSE Smallcap Index declined 0.94 per cent.

The S&P BSE Bankex plunged 3.14 per cent, the S&P IT Index was down 2.11 per cent and the S&P BSE Metal Index fell 2.58 per cent.

The S&P BSE Healthcare Index gained 0.41 per cent.

Sesa Sterlite (5.21 per cent), Hindalco (4.70 per cent), BHEL (4.55 per cent), GAIL (4.52 per cent) and ICICI Bank (4.33 per cent) were among the major Sensex losers.

HUL (up 3.76 per cent), Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (up 0.68 per cent), Sun Pharma (up 0.41 per cent) and Maruti (up 0.01 per cent) were the only index gainers.

The market breadth was negative on the BSE with 983 gainers against 1887 losers.

(All figures are provisional)