Sensex Crashes 710 Points, Nifty Settles At 15,413; RIL, ICICI Bank Top Drags

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day winning streak led by losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Infosys, ITC, HDFC Bank and HDFC. The benchmarks staged a gap down opening taking cues from subdued trend in Asian markets and extended selloff in noon deals after selling pressure engulfed European markets. The Sensex fell as much as 792 points and Nifty 50 index briefly dropped below its important psychological level of 15,400.

The Sensex dropped 710 points to close at 51,822 and Nifty 50 index declined 225 points or 1.44 per cent to close at 15,413.

Global shares declined Wednesday as markets shrugged off a Wall Street rally and awaited congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

European benchmarks fell in early trading after shares in Asia finished lower, including in Japan, Australia, South Korea and China. U.S. futures were also down.

France’s CAC 40 lost 1.9 per cent in early trading to 5,853.92, while Germany’s DAX dove 2.3 per cent to 12,989.70. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.2 per cent to 7,066.66. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures at 30,037.00, down 1.6 per cent. S&P 500 futures fell 1.9 per cent to 3,698.00.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.4 per cent to finish at 26,149.55. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2 per cent to 6,508.50. South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 2.7 per cent to 2,342.81. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.6 per cent to 21,008.34, while the Shanghai Composite sank 1.2 per cent to 3,267.20.

Britain’s inflation rate hit a new 40-year high of 9.1 per cent in the 12 months to May, figures showed Wednesday, as Russia’s war in Ukraine drove food and fuel prices ever higher. The latest inflation numbers suggest that inflation may remain sticky at elevated levels.

Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as all the 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Metal index's nearly 5 per cent fall. Nifty Media, Realty, IT, Bank and Financial Services indices also fell between 1-3.5 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares also faced selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 1.63 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.41 per cent.

UPL was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 6.3 per cent to Rs 613. Hindalco, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Wipro, Adani Ports, Coal India, IndusInd Bank, HCL Technologies and Bajaj Finserv also fell between 2.5-6 per cent.

On the flipside, Bharat Petroleum, Hero MotoCorp, Divi's Labs, TCS and Power Grid were among the notable gainers.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,081 shares ended lower while 1,248 ended higher on the BSE.