Sensex closes at five-month low; Nifty slides below 17K on selling in bank, financial stocks

Benchmark BSE Sensex pared its early gains to close down by 344 points at a five-month low while Nifty slid below the 17,000 level on Wednesday due to selling in banking, financial and telecom stocks.

Persistent foreign capital drain from the domestic market and lingering concerns over banks’ health and high inflation dented market sentiment, traders said.

Falling for the fifth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 344.29 points or 0.59 per cent at 57,555.90 with 21 of its stocks ending in the red. After a gap up opening, the index surged over 570 points to touch a high of 58,473.63 amid positive Asian markets in early trade.

The stock markets, however, lost steam after a weak opening of European stocks which retreated on fears that the European Central Bank may hike rates by 25 basis points.

The Sensex tanked more than 1,000 points from the day’s high to hit a low of 57,455.67.

Marking its fifth straight day of losses, the broader NSE Nifty declined 71.15 points or 0.42 per cent to end at 16,972.15, with 28 of its stocks ending with losses.

IndusInd Bank was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, shedding nearly 2 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, HDFC twins, SBI, HUL, Tata Motors, Nestle India and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Titan and L&T were among the gainers, rising up to 3.03 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupee declined 25 paise to close at 82.62 against the US dollar on Wednesday. International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.72 per cent to $78.01 per barrel.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 3,086.96 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.