Stock Market Today; Sensex Sinks 700 Points, Nifty Below 16,000

The key benchmark indices opened in red as indicated by global cues as US inflation data for April weighed in. The sensex tanked over 700 points to 53,443 while the Nifty shed 170 points to slip below 16,000 on Thursday.

Barring Powergrid and NTPC, all stock in the 30-share Sensex opened in red with HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, M&M, Ultratech Cement and Bajaj Finance as major losers, down up to 2.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, ONGC, Powergrid, Bajaj Auto, and Eicher motors were teh major gainers in NSE Nifty, while Bajaj Finance, SBI Life, Bajaj Finserv, Britannia, and Maruti were major losers.

Sectorally, all indices opened lower with Nifty Bank, Auto, Financials, FMCG, among major losers, down up to 1.7 per cent.

The broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap were also weak, down 1.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.

Earlier, the Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 140.50 points, or 0.87 per cent, lower at 16,027, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a negative start on Thursday.

Meanwhile, stocks fell on Wall Street on Wednesday after a report on inflation came in worse than feared. An early rally faded, leaving the S&P 500 1.6% lower after waffling between gains and losses in morning trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1% and the Nasdaq fell 3.2% as tech stocks weighed down the broader market.

Besides, Asian stocks fell Thursday after high US inflation bolstered the case for aggressive monetary tightening.

An Asian share gauge declined amid drops in Hong Kong and Japan and mixed performance in China.

Japan’s Topix index fell 0.3%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.7%, South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index retreated 0.7%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2%.