Sensex Slumps Over 600 Points On Weak Global Cues, Nifty Trades Below 16,300

Indian equity benchmarks on Friday plunged in opening deals, taking cues from the global markets. Asian shares traded lower, tracking an overnight fall in Wall Street after rate hike guidance from the European Central Bank (ECB) and upcoming U.S. inflation data unnerved investors.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) indicated a gap-down start for the domestic indices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 636 points or 1.15 per cent to 54,685, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 194 points or 1.18 per cent down to trade at 16,284.

Mid- and small-cap shares were weak as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 1.02 per cent and small-cap dropped 1.01 per cent.

All the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Metal and Nifty Bank were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 1.79 per cent, 1.96 per cent and 1.15 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Wipro was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 3.28 per cent to ₹ 459.45. Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were also among the laggards.

The overall market breadth was weak as 777 shares were advancing while 1,461 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Wipro, Tata Steel, TechM, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Finance, TCS, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement and SBI were among the top losers.

Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, plunged 1.77 per cent to hit an all-time intraday low of ₹ 709.20.

In contrast, PowerGrid, Maruti, Titan and NTPC were trading in the green.