Sensex: Financials and banks pulled the domestic indices down. With 30 shares, the BSE Sensex fell 1,045 points, or 1.43%, to trade at 72,084, while the NSE Nifty fell 313 points, or 1.42%, to trade at 21,719.
Summary
- On a stock-specific basis, HDFC Bank was the Nifty pack’s biggest loser, falling 5.67 percent.
- Hindalco, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, and Bajaj Auto all declined by up to 2.30 percent.
- In contrast, the biggest gainers included HDFC Life, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, ITC, and PowerGrid.
In early trade on Wednesday, benchmarks for Indian equities fell precipitously on the back of negative global cues. Financials and banks were dragging down the domestic indices. With 30 shares, the BSE Sensex fell 1,045 points, or 1.43%, to trade at 72,084, while the NSE Nifty fell 313 points, or 1.42%, to trade at 21,719. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) declined, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 1.43 percent and the small-cap falling 1.45 percent.
On the global front, Asian markets fell today after China’s economic growth in the December quarter below expectations. Overnight, Wall Street equities closed lower after a prominent Federal Reserve official stated that the US central bank should not hurry to drop interest rates, lowering hopes for early rate reduction. Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought Rs 656.57 crore of shares in the previous session, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 369.29 crore, according to exchange data.
All 15 sector indices compiled by the NSE were trading in the red. The Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services sub-indices underperformed the NSE platform, sliding as high as 2.48 percent and 2.56%, respectively. Regarding individual stocks, HDFC Bank was the worst performer in the Nifty group, with the stock falling 5.67% to trade at Rs 1,584. Up to 2.30 percent slid from Hindalco, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, and Bajaj Auto.
Sensex falls over 1,000 points, Nifty trades below 21,750; HDFC Bank and IEX down up to 6%.
On the other hand, the biggest gainers were PowerGrid, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Life, and ITC.
On the BSE, 624 shares were rising while 1,744 shares were falling, indicating a poor overall market breadth.
HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, and SBI were among the top laggards on the 30-share BSE index.
Additionally, the BSE 500 stocks, which included The Phoenix Mills, IEX, Lodha, Finolex Industries, Network18, and SAIL, plummeted up to 5.03 percent. Conversely, Capri Global Capital, KEI Industries, Cochin Shipyard, Jyothy Labs, Medanta, ICICI Lombard, and Angel One increased to 5.58 percent.
