Sensex tanks over 1,000 points on selling in IT & metal stocks
Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled more than 1 per cent on Friday due to a broad-based selloff, especially in metal, IT and commodity stocks, tracking sluggish global markets.
A weaker-than-expected earnings season and emerging pressure on technology stocks amid concerns about AI-led disruption also dampened sentiment, traders said.
In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,048.16 points, or 1.25 per cent, to close at 82,626.76. During the day, the benchmark tanked 1,140.37 points, or 1.36 per cent, to hit an intraday low of 82,534.55.
A total of 2,960 stocks declined, while 1,253 advanced and 151 remained unchanged on the BSE.
The 50-share NSE Nifty plunged 336.10 points, or 1.30 per cent, to settle at 25,471.10. In the intraday trade, it slumped 362.9 points, or 1.4 per cent, to hit a low of 25,444.30.
On a weekly basis, the 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 953.64 points, or 1.14 per cent, while NSE Nifty dropped 222.6 points, 0.86 per cent.
The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 7,02,017.71 crore to Rs 4,65,46,643.20 crore ($5.13 trillion).
Among the Sensex constituents, Hindustan Unilever, Eternal, Titan, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), PowerGrid, Reliance Industries, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank and HCL Technologies were the major laggards.
On the other hand, Bajaj Finance and State Bank of India (SBI) were the only gainers.
The BSE SmallCap Select Index fell 1.90 per cent, while the MidCap Select Index slipped 1.19 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, Metal declined the most by 3.21 per cent, followed by Realty and Commodities by 2.27 per cent each, Utilities by 2.26 per cent, Energy by 1.94 per cent, Oil & Gas by 1.86 per cent, Power by 1.85 per cent, FMCG by 1.74 per cent, and Services by 1.72 per cent.
In the commodities space, gold and silver prices declined up to 10 per cent after the greenback strengthened on the back of stronger-than-expected US January jobs data, which reduced expectations of near-term interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, Khemka said.
Precious metals prices declined more than 5 per cent in the national capital on Friday, with silver declining to Rs 2.55 lakh per kilogram, while gold dropped to Rs 1.58 lakh per 10 grams amid weak global trends.
The dollar gained further traction amid media reports that Russia may consider re-entering the dollar settlement system as part of a potential economic understanding with the US, adding additional pressure on precious metals.
The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day 5 paise lower at 90.66 against the US dollar on Friday.
Meanwhile, FIIs bought equities worth Rs 108.42 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors were also net buyers of stocks worth Rs 276.85 crore, according to exchange data.
