Indian stocks fell 3.45 percent Thursday, reacting to weak US markets falling on an unrelenting flow of bad economic and corporate news, dealers said. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 323.75 points to 9,046.74. "Weak global trends and possible lower ratings for some Indian firms weakened sentiment," said P.K. Agarwal, president of financial services firm Bonanza Portfolio.
Shares of fraud-hit Satyam plunged 32.2 percent or 9.65 rupees to 20.3 rupees Thursday as the government rejected talk of an immediate bailout for the company. In Thursday's trade, losers led gainers 1,649 to 698 on turnover of 28.96 billion rupees (590 million dollars). Last year, overseas funds were net sellers of Indian stocks, having sold 13.13 billion dollars in 2008.
Reliance Industries fell 34.8 rupees or 2.95 percent to 1,143.35 rupees while Tata Steel fell 15.65 rupees or 7.33 percent to 197.8 on fears of weak demand for metals due to the global economic slowdown. TCS fell 28.45 rupees or 5.28 percent to 510, ahead of third-quarter earnings due later Thursday.