Sensex plunges nearly 483 points

Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled by nearly 483 points on Monday due to selling in IT, capital goods and banking shares following losses in global equities on worries over high-interest rates.

The 30-share index tanked 482.61 points or 0.81 per cent to close at 58,964.57 with 23 of its constituents closing in the red. During the day, it tumbled 552.78 points or 0.92 per cent to 58,894.40.

The 50-issue Nifty of the National Stock Exchange declined by 109.40 points or 0.62 per cent to finish at 17,674.95 as 29 of its stocks declined.

HCL Tech fell the most by 2.73 per cent while the other two IT majors Infosys and Wipro also declined by 2.67 per cent and 2.16 per cent, respectively.

Global stock markets were down due to concerns over inflation, expectations of aggressive rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and weak growth due to the geopolitical situation.

The US Fed officials have indicated that they are considering raising the benchmark rate by double the normal amount at upcoming meetings. They also indicated they may shrink the Fed's bond holdings, which might push up commercial borrowing rates. ICICI Bank, on the other hand, rose the most by 0.71 per cent. NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Nestle, Maruti Suzuki and Sun Pharma advanced.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge gained 0.41 per cent, while the smallcap index went up by 0.38 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT declined the most by 1.46 per cent, followed by teck (1.37 per cent), capital goods (1.09 per cent) and telecom (0.60 per cent).

In contrast, power gained the most by 5.18 per cent, followed by utilities (5.09 per cent) and oil and gas (2.38 per cent). Stock markets in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo ended lower. European stock markets were also trading lower due to a sell-off in technology stocks. Stocks in the US ended mostly lower on Friday.