MUMBAI: On Thursday, the benchmark Sensex for Indian equities fell 290 points to close below the 58,000 level following a sell-off in sectors related to banking, finance, and IT amid a sluggish trend in European equities.
Meanwhile, intense selling pressure in Reliance Industries, an index heavyweight, increased the pressure, according to brokers.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 289.31 points, or 0.50 percent, to close at 57,925.28 after rising for two straight days. It dropped 375.74 points, or 0.64 percent, to 57,838.85 throughout the day.
To finish at 17,076.90, the larger NSE Nifty fell 75 points, or 0.44 percent.
The worst loss in the Sensex pack was State Bank of India, which lost 1.69 percent. Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Power Grid, and the HDFC twins were the next biggest losers.
The winners, on the other hand, included Nestlé, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, ITC, and Hindustan Unilever.
While Japan’s stock market ended lower in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong all closed higher.
Throughout the afternoon session, equity markets in Europe were trading in the red. The American stock market had a disastrous Wednesday.
“While the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points was in line with forecasts, worries were aroused by the US Treasury Secretary’s declaration that blanket insurance for all deposits was not being taken into consideration.
“When the Fed indicated at its intention to suspend rate hikes sooner, the domestic market tried to recover its initial losses with the support of favourable US futures. The European market’s slow start, which was sparked by a 50 basis point rate hike by the Swiss National Bank, caused the recovery to be fleeting, according to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
The benchmark Brent crude price fell 0.90 percent to $76 per barrel in the meanwhile.
According to market statistics, foreign portfolio investors bought shares of stock worth Rs 61.72 crore on Wednesday.
