An evening walk down Dalal Street

It’s not a result that the bulls would have anticipated, considering the pullback it had on September 7, 2018. A weak rupee, which fell to record lows of 72.67 per US dollar weighed heavily on indices. The Indian currency saw weak moves following macro concerns on the domestic front along with having spillover effects of a selloff in emerging market currencies too.

Back home, investors are likely to have indulged in selling based on these cues, especially on the economic front. India’s trade deficit widened to USD 18 billion for July, while the current account deficit (CAD), too, widened to 2.4 percent of GDP.

The day was largely dominated by the bears, with the benchmarks seeing selling right from the first minute. Along with it, rupee’s weakness ahead added to its woes. The Nifty gave up 11,450-mark.

Traders rushed to dump stocks in segments such as automobiles, banks, FMCG, pharmaceuticals, and metals, among others. In the broader markets, selling in midcaps also added to the woes, with the Nifty Midcap index shedding 2 percent. Pharmaceuticals were dragged by a fall in Sun Pharmaceuticals following reports of a fresh inspection at its Mohali unit.

The Indian rupee was in focus after it breached past 72.50 per US dollar, falling to an all-time low of 72.67 per US dollar. It failed to build on some recovery which was visible on Friday. The fall in Indian rupee has also pushed its value lower by 5 percent so far in this month itself, while for 2018, the total fall stood at 13 percent.

An immediate impact was also visible on the bond yields, which rose to their highest levels in four years, according to a CNBC-TV18 input.

A sharp increase in dollar demand, global trade war risks along with a strengthening US dollar are reasons that could be attributed to the rupee’s fall, multiple analysts told Moneycontrol.

"Markets started the week on feeble note and lost over a percent. Weak global cues combined with widening trade deficit, due to continuous fall in rupee against the dollar, dampened the sentiment. Selling pressure was witnessed across the board and almost all the sectoral indices ended lower. The fall was evident, citing deteriorating local cues and continuous threat of trade war escalation," Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking said in a statement.