Blood spills: Nifty sinks below 8100, Sensex plunges; ITC tanks

Moneycontrol Bureau 11:45 am Currency war: Nigeria’s central bank will allow its currency value to be determined by market forces after removing 16-month peg which tied it to a fixed figure. The new policy will take effect from June 20 and will effectively devalue the Naira.
Nigeria's central bank previously pegged the naira at 197 to the US dollar but the currency trades at about half that on the black market as slump in oil revenues has hammered public finances and foreign currency reserves.

Meanwhile, The Japanese yen strengthened sharply to 104.1 per dollar against the dollar after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady as expected. Japanese yen is at strongest levels since September 2014.

11:25 am  FII view: A serious risk to global markets has emerged in the form of the British referendum slated for next week, says Arvind Sanger of New York-based Geosphere Capital. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Sanger said should Britian choose to exit the Eurozone, it would create a flight of capital into safe havens. But should the stay camp prevail, risk assets will make a comeback and India will be a beneficiary, according to Sanger. "Once we get past Brexit vote, India is a no-brainer," Sanger said, àdding that he was positive on cement, commercial vehicles and road companies in the country.Don't miss: Vijay Mallya to step down as UB ChairmanIntensified heavy selling dragged benchmark indices with the Nifty breaching crucial 8100 after both Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan held rates steady. The Sensex is down 324.83 points or 1 percent at 26401.51 and the Nifty is down 109.30 points or 1.3 percent at 8097.30. About 717 shares have advanced, 1361 shares declined, and 124 shares are unchanged.ICICI Bank, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and ITC are major losers in the Sensex. GAIL is the only green stock in the BSE.Weak Asian markets is hurting India. The Nikkei 225 extended losses, dropping 3.1 percent to 15,426.09. The Japanese yen strengthened sharply against the dollar and the Nikkei tumbled on Thursday after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady as was widely expected. Oil prices sank for a sixth straight session today in Asia, tracking a sell-off across equities with an expected pick-up in output adding to worries about the global economy and a weaker-than-forecast fall in US stockpiles. After almost doubling between February and last week, WTI has plunged eight percent from an 11-month high, while Brent has lost more than six percent from an eight-month peak.