Bourses decline 1% amid heavy selling in IT, financial & oil stocks

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty tanked more than 1 per cent on Friday due to heavy selling in IT, financial and oil stocks in line with weak trends in the global markets.

The 30-share Sensex tanked 671.15 points or 1.12 per cent to close at 59,135.13, as 21 of its scrips declined. The index opened lower and slid further to touch a low of 58,884.98 in the day.

The broader Nifty plunged 176.70 points or 1 per cent to close at 17,412.90, with 35 of its stocks ending in the red. The index moved in a range of 17,324.35 to 17,451.50 during the session.

Among Sensex shares, HDFC Bank fell the most by 2.58 per cent, followed by SBI (2.12 per cent), HDFC (2.09 per cent), and IndusInd Bank (2.02 per cent). Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, M&M, L&T, Reliance, Infosys and TCS were among the major losers.

In contrast, Tata Motors, Maruti, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Power Grid and Titan were among the gainers.

Investors became poorer by Rs 1.36 lakh crore on Friday as the markets witnessed a sell-off amid weak global trends.

The sharp decline in equities eroded Rs 1,36,037.96 crore from the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms and that now stands at Rs 2,62,94,723.65 crore.

Heavy selling in financial, banking, IT and capital goods shares triggered by weak Asian markets and overnight losses in the US market dragged down the benchmark indices, analysts said.

In the US, S&P 500 tumbled 1.8 per cent, Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.7 per cent and Nasdaq composite fell 2.1 per cent on Thursday as investors remain anxious about the prospect of more aggressive action by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation with higher interest

rates.

Foreign Institutional Investors emerged as net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they sold shares worth Rs 561.78 crore, according to exchange data.