Sensex crashes by 676.53 points

Mumbai, Aug 2 The BSE Sensex slumped on Wednesday by 676.53 points to settle at 65,782.78 after rating agency Fitch downgraded the US credit rating to AA+ from AAA.
The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped 207 points to 19,526.55 points.
The equity market remained under pressure throughout the session today, as it fell 395 points to 66,064.4 in the opening trade. Later, it dropped nearly 1228 pts to 65,431.68, a day low, before closing at 65,782.78, sliding 676.53 pts from its previous close.
Stocks like Metal, Power, utilities, and Capital Goods dragged the market.
Metal was the worst hit, falling 2.45 percent, followed by Utilities by 2.32 percent, Power by 2.31 percent, and Capital Goods by 1.83 percent.
In scrips, Tata Steel was a major loser, falling 3.25 pc to Rs 119.20, Tata Motors by 3.12 pc to Rs 623.15, Bajaj Finserv by 2.89 pc to Rs 1527, NTPC by 2.69 pc to Rs 219.10, and TCS by 2.17 pc to Rs 803.
The gainers were Nestle India Ltd. by 1.04 pc to Rs 19423.55, Asian Paints by 0.74 pc to Rs 3366.65, Hind Unilever by 0.73 pc to Rs 2570, and JSW Steel by 0.35 pc to Rs 1147.50.
The midcap declined by 1.39 percent and the small cap by 1.18 percent.
In 30 scrips, 4 advanced while 26 declined.
The Asian Market fell today as Strait Times fell 1.47 percent, Hang Seng by 2.53 percent, and Taiwan by 1.89 percent.
Even the European market was down.