Sensex plunges over 500 points after Railway Budget (Fourth Lead)

Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets plunged 517.97 points or 1.98 percent Tuesday after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government presented its maiden Railway Budget.

All the stocks were in red. Heavy selling pressure was seen in capital goods, metal, consumer durables, oil and gas, auto, banking, realty, IT and healthcare sectors.

The index of Indian equities markets hit a new high of 26,190.44 points during the morning session.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,166.92 points, closed at 25,582.11 points (provisional), down 517.97 points or 1.98 percent from the previous day's close at 26,100.08 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 26,190.44 points and a low of 25,495.04 points intra-day.

The S&P BSE capital goods index plunged by 803.49 points, metal index plummeted by 567.17 points, consumer durbales index slid by 414.12 points, oil and gas index dropped by 350.89 points, bankex went down by 413.67 points, realty index slipped by 150.04 points, power index went down by 152.63 points, auto index was down by 367.98 points, healthcare index lost 144.19 points and IT index slipped by 100.37 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade at 163.95 points or 2.11 percent down at 7,623.20 points.