Sensex, Nifty fall over 1 per cent amid global selloff

Indian stock markets fell over 1 per cent on Tuesday as Sensex and Nifty declined sharply due to global weakness, IT sector selling and foreign fund outflows. Heavy losses in Infosys and TCS dragged benchmarks lower despite selective gains in some stocks

Mumbai: Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty faced heavy selling pressure on Tuesday, dropping over 1 per cent, tracking a bearish trend in global markets along with weakness in HDFC Bank and IT firms.

Fresh foreign fund outflows also led to weak trading in equities.

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The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 893.39 points, or 1.16 per cent, to settle at 76,200.68. During the day, it plunged 1,011.56 points, or 1.31 per cent, to 76,082.51.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 278.80 points, or 1.16 per cent, to end at 23,824.10.

Last week, the benchmark indices rallied in four trading sessions out of five. In the previous trading session also, the benchmarks registered gains.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services declined over 3 per cent each. Bharat Electronics, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Eternal, HCL Tech and State Bank of India were also among the laggards.

Power Grid, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma and Maruti Suzuki were the winners.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 635.91 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended sharply lower. The Kospi tanked 10 per cent.

European markets were trading in negative territory.

“Indian equity markets snapped their recent oil-driven rally and declined sharply alongside global peers as a broad technology-led selloff weighed on sentiment.

“Losses were led by the IT sector, which declined more than 2 per cent, while a weaker rupee and growing expectations of further US monetary tightening added to investor caution and weighed on overall sentiment,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.67 per cent to USD 77.46 per barrel.

On Monday, the Sensex climbed 291.17 points, or 0.38 per cent, to settle at 77,094.07. The Nifty surged 89.80 points, or 0.37 per cent, to end at 24,102.90.