Sensex Plunges Over 700 Points, Nifty Trades Below 16,650; Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank Top Drags

The Indian equity indices slumped in opening deals on Wednesday amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

by · NDTV.com
Mid-and small-cap shares were trading marginally higher.

New Delhi: The Indian equity indices slumped in opening deals on Wednesday amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Asian stocks came under renewed pressure and oil prices jumped on worries about the impact of aggressive sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine sank shares in Europe and on Wall Street. Brent crude futures climbed $3.55, or 3.4 per cent, to $108.52 a barrel, scaling highs not seen since July 2014.

Overnight, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes closed about 1.6 per cent lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 1.8 per cent.

Back home, as of 9:19 am, the benchmark BSE Sensex tanked 703 points or 1.25 per cent to 55,544; while the broader NSE Nifty fell 162 points or 0.97 per cent to 16,631.

Investors also turned cautious as the economic growth slowed to 5.4 per cent in the October-December quarter against an 8.5 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.

Mid-and small-cap shares were trading marginally higher as Nifty Midcap 100 index edged 0.03 per cent up and small-cap shares rose 0.08 per cent.

Most of the sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were underperforming the index by slipping as much as 2.08 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively. However, Nifty Metal surged as much as 2.83 per cent in early deals.

On the stock-specific front, Bajaj Auto was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 4.28 per cent to Rs 3,379.35. ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank and Hero MotoCorp were also among the laggards.

On BSE, the overall market breadth was positive as 1,499 shares were advancing while 1,125 were declining.

On the 30-share BSE index, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), Maruti Suzuki India and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top losers. PowerGrid, Tata Steel, M&M and NTPC were trading in the green.

Sensex had jumped 389 points or 0.70 per cent to close at 56,247 on Monday; while Nifty had moved 136 points or 0.81 per cent higher to settle at 16,794. Domestic indices were closed on Tuesday due to Mahashivratri.