Markets fall nearly 1% amid selling in IT & financial stocks

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday due to profit booking in banking, financial and IT stocks after a recent rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 537.22 points or 0.94 per cent to end at 56,819.39 as 24 of its stocks declined. During the day, it tanked 772.57 points or 1.34 per cent to touch a low of 56,584.04. The broader NSE Nifty declined by 162.40 points or 0.94 per cent to 17,038.40 with 39 of its constituents ending in the red.

Bajaj Finance was the biggest loser among Sensex stocks, dropping by 7.24 per cent. Bajaj Finserve declined by 3.88 per cent, ICICI Bank by 2.21 per cent and SBI by 1.78 per cent.

IT major Infosys dropped by 1.68 per cent, and Wipro by 1.91 per cent. Titan fell by 2.19 per cent, Dr Reddy's by 1.94 per cent, UltraTech Cement by 1.63 per cent, M&M by 1.46 per cent and Maruti by 1.44 per cent.

In contrast, Tata Steel rebounded by 1 per cent while Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, TCS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank also advanced.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.88 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.61 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, power fell the most by 1.86 per cent, followed by utilities (1.81 per cent), telecom (1.72 per cent), finance (1.40 per cent) and oil and gas (1.24 per cent). Metal was the only gainer with a marginal gain of 0.02 per cent.

As many as 2,202 stocks declined, while 1,161 advanced and 120 remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, LIC set the price band at Rs 902-949 per share for its Rs 21,000 crore initial public offering (IPO), which will open for subscription on May 4.

The Sensex had jumped 776.72 points or 1.37 per cent to end at 57,356.61 on Tuesday. The Nifty rallied 246.85 points or 1.46 per cent to 17,200.80.

The rupee pared its early losses to settle just 1 paisa high at 76.57 against the US dollar on Wednesday.