India share markets plunged on Thursday amid weak global cues and just ahead of earnings announcements by major Indian IT services companies.
The BSE Sensex plunged 500 points in Thursday afternoon trade. As of 2:37 pm, Sensex was down 467.16 points or 1.66 per cent. While Nifty was down 1.75 per cent or 152.10 points at 8,556.70 as of 2:41 PM.
The shares fell earlier on Thursday dragged lower by heavyweights such as Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) as well as financial and technology stocks, signalling low risk appetite among investors ahead of some key company results.
Indexes in Asia's second-largest economy tracked losses in regional shares after weak China trade data rekindled global growth worries.
China's September exports fell 10 percent from a year earlier, far more than markets had expected, while imports unexpectedly shrank 1.9 percent.
Caution prevailed ahead of quarterly results of software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS), which fell 2.1 percent. TCS is expected to report results on Thursday after the market closes, ahead of Infosys' (INFY.NS) results, which is due on Friday.
"China has been a concern for a very long time and today's data indicates that exports are not up to the mark. So markets are seeing a correction. But going ahead, focus remains on quarterly results," AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital told Reuters.
Apart from weak Asian cues after China's exports unexpectedly declined, investors also weighed minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting that show the US central bank may go for a rate hike this year.
Indian financial markets were shut on Tuesday and Wednesday for public holidays.
With Reuters and PTI inputs