Sensex Drops Over 400 Points, Nifty Below 17,100; Bajaj Finance Falls After Q4 Earnings

The Indian equity benchmarks moved sharply lower on Wednesday dragged down by losses in Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, State Bank of India and HDFC twins amid weak global cues. The Sensex fell as much as 496 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 17,056.

As of 9:26 am, the Sensex was down 458 points at 56,898 and Nifty 50 index fell 120 points to 17,081.

"Nifty has an immediate support at 17,040. Any move below the same may extend the fall toward 16,930-16,870 mark. On the flip side 17,270-17,330 will act as strong resistance levels. It’s a stock specific market, trade calls with strict stop loss," brokerage firm Nirmal Bang said in a research report.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading lower taking cues from weak closing of US markets and rising inflation. In the recent economic data inflation hit 20 year high in Australia amid rising energy prices. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.95 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.7 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI declined 1.2 per cent.

Stocks closed broadly lower on Wall Street Tuesday, weighed down by sharp declines in Big Tech stocks that also left the Nasdaq with its worst drop since September 2020.

Investors are busy reviewing the latest round of corporate earnings and are facing a particularly heavy week with results from some of the nation’s biggest companies. Earnings growth has been one of the pillars of the market, but the reports so far haven’t offset investors’ concerns about rising inflation, interest rate hikes and potential damage to global economic growth from pandemic-related lockdowns in China.

The S&P 500 fell 120.92 points, or 2.8 per cent to 4,175.20. The benchmark index closed the day with 95 per cent of its stocks losing ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 809.28 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 33,240.18.

Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as thirteen of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty IT index's nearly 1 per cent decline. Nifty Financial Services, Auto, Bank, PSU Bank, Private Bank, and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.3-0.8 per cent.

On the other hand, select media and metal shares were witnessing buying interest.

Mid- and small-cap shares were also facing a mild selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.34 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 0.51 per cent.

Bajaj Finance was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 4.32 per cent to Rs 6,928 despite reporting highest ever quarterly profit in March quarter. The Pune-based NBFC reported net profit of Rs 2,420 crore, marking an increase of 80 per cent from Rs 1,347 crore in the year ago period.

Bajaj Finserv, Ultratech Cement, Wipro, Tata Consumer Products, Infosys, Divi's Labs, Grasim Industries, Axis Bank, UPL, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's Labs and Mahindra & Mahindra also fell between 1.2-2 per cent.

On the flipside, Reliance Industries, NTPC, Tata Steel and Adani Ports were among the notable gainers.