Sensex plunges 542 points, Nifty50 sinks below key support at 17,600 as market makes a U-turn after three-day rally
Indian equity benchmarks suffered steep losses on Thursday, halting a rally that lasted three back-to-back sessions, amid selling across sectors. Financial, IT, oil & gas and auto shares were at the forefront of the sell-off on the weekly expiry day.
Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty50 suffered steep losses on Thursday, halting a rally that lasted three back-to-back sessions, amid selling across sectors. The 50-scrip index closed below key support at the 17,600 mark. Financial, IT, oil & gas and auto shares were at the forefront of the sell-off on the weekly expiry day. Globally, hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and macroeconomic data pointing to resilience of the world's largest economy stoked fears about higher-for-longer interest rates.
Both headline indices finished the day 0.9 per cent lower, with the Sensex shedding 541.8 points to settle at 59,806.3 for the day. The Nifty50 lost 164.8 points to close at 17,589.6.
The Nifty Bank — whose 12 member scrips include SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank — gave up 320.4 points or 0.8 per cent for the day to end at 41,256.8.
Earlier in the day, Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi had said that market participants should not worry as long as the Nifty50 and the Nifty Bank close above 17,600 and 41,000 levels.
Adani Enterprises was the top laggard in the Nifty50 basket, 39 of whose constituents fell for the day. NSE placed Adani Enterprises, along with two other Adani group stocks, Adani Power and Adani Wilmar, under its short-term additional surveillance measure framework.
Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI Life, Reliance and Adani Ports were also among the worst hit stocks in the 39 losers in the 50-scrip universe.
Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Apollo Hospitals, Bharti Airtel and Cipla were the top gainers — bucking the trend in a sea of red on Dalal Street.
Top Nifty50 losers
| Stock | Change (%) | CMP |
| Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) | -1.7 | 3,333 |
| Tech Mahindra (TECHM) | -1.7 | 1,059.9 |
| Eicher Motors (EICHERMOT) | -1.7 | 3,149 |
| ICICI Bank (ICICIBANK) | -1.8 | 856.4 |
| Bajaj Finserv (BAJAJFINSV) | -2.1 | 1,352 |
| Adani Ports (ADANIPORTS) | -2.2 | 696.1 |
| Reliance Industries (RELIANCE) | -2.4 | 2,360 |
| SBI Life (SBILIFE) | -2.8 | 1,097.5 |
| Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) | -3.5 | 1,245.2 |
| Adani Enterprises (ADANIENT) | -4.8 | 1,941.4 |
Top Nifty50 gainers
| Stock | Change (%) | CMP |
| Tata Steel (TATASTEEL) | 1.6 | 108.2 |
| Larsen & Toubro (LT) | 1 | 2,193 |
| Apollo Hospitals (APOLLOHOSP) | 0.8 | 4,412.1 |
| Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL) | 0.8 | 772.5 |
| CIPLA | 0.6 | 882.5 |
| Axis Bank (AXISBANK) | 0.6 | 865.8 |
| NTPC | 0.5 | 179.8 |
| JSW Steel (JSWSTEEL) | 0.4 | 678.3 |
| HINDALCO | 0.3 | 408.9 |
| Nestle (NESTLEIND) | 0.1 | 18,540 |
Among heavyweights, Reliance, ICICI Bank, TCS, ITC and Infosys were the biggest drags on both headline indices.
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