Sensex tanks 1,000 pts on IT stocks selloff, trade worries

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled more than 1 per cent on Tuesday, dragged down by heavy losses in IT stocks amid concerns over artificial intelligence-led disruption and renewed trade-related uncertainties.

Rising global crude prices amid escalating US-Iran tensions and sluggish global cues also hit investor sentiment, traders said.

Snapping its two-session rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 1,068.74 points, or 1.28 per cent, to settle at 82,225.92. During the day, the benchmark plunged 1,359.93 points, or 1.63 per cent, to hit an intraday low of 81,934.73.

A total of 2,802 stocks declined, while 1,422 advanced and 143 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 288.35 points, or 1.12 per cent, to close at 25,424.65. In the intraday session, it depreciated by 385.4 points, or 1.49 per cent, to hit a low of 25,327.60.

As many as 32 of its components ended in the red while 18 settled in the green territory.

Tech Mahindra emerged as the biggest laggard, declining by 6.6 per cent, followed by HCL Technologies, Eternal, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, Trent, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Bharat Electronics Ltd and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Titan, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, and Sun Pharmaceuticals were among the gainers.

Broader indices also ended in the negative territory, with the BSE Smallcap Select Index falling 0.68 per cent, while the Midcap Select Index slipped 0.54 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, Focused IT dropped the most by 4.80 per cent, followed by Information Technology by 4.53 per cent, Realty by 2.61 per cent, Telecommunication by 1.79 per cent, Consumer Discretionary by 1.12 per cent, and Industrials by 0.91 per cent.

On the other hand, Metal, Oil & Gas Power, Energy, Utilities, Commodities, FMCG, Healthcare, PSU Bank, and Capital Goods, among others, were finished in the green territory.

The rupee traded in a narrow range on Tuesday and settled 6 paise lower at 90.95 against the US dollar amid a firm greenback and higher crude oil prices.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,483.70 crore

on Monday, while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of stocks worth Rs 1,292.24 crore, according to exchange data.