Stock markets halt 6-day rally; Sensex, Nifty dive nearly 1 pc as HDFC Bank, Reliance drag

Mumbai:  Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell sharply by nearly 1 per cent on Friday, snapping their six-day winning streak, amid intense selling in market heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries. The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 693.86 points or 0.85 per cent to settle at 81,306.85. During the day, it plunged 708.94 points or 0.86 per cent to 81,291.77. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 213.65 points or 0.85 per cent to 24,870.10.

From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, ITC, HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank and Tech Mahindra were among the major laggards. However, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Bharat Electronics and Sun Pharma were among the gainers. Investors also turned their attention towards US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's forthcoming statements at the Jackson Hole Symposium. In the six-day rally to Thursday, the BSE benchmark has climbed 1,765 points or 2.14 per cent, and the Nifty rallied 596 points or 2.4 per cent. In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in positive territory.

Markets in Europe were trading in the green in mid-session deals. The US markets ended lower on Thursday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,246.51 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.24 per cent to USD 67.52 a barrel. On Thursday, the Sensex climbed 142.87 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 82,000.71. The Nifty rose by 33.20 points or 0.13 per cent to 25,083.75.