Mumbai: Global sentiments and bearish hammering of HDFC Bank, among other reasons, pulled down benchmark indices in Dalal Street on Wednesday with the S&P BSE Sensex plummeting 1,628 points and the Nifty50 closing down by 460 points.
India’s equity benchmarks opened in the red, dragged down by bank stocks and weakened trends from Asian markets. Extending its Tuesday’s decline, the BSE Sensex plunged 1,628.01 points or 2.23 percent to settle at 71,500.76 and the NSE Nifty50 slumped 460.35 pts or 2.09 percent to close at 21,571.95.
Asian markets closed lower, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index shedding 1.3 percent after China’s economic growth in the December quarter missed expectations.
The Wall Street equities also closed lower overnight after a key Federal Reserve report that the US central bank should not rush to lower rates, dampening expectations of early rate cuts.
Both the key benchmarks—Sensex and Nifty—settled over 2 percent down each as against a 1 percent cut in the BSE MidCap index and a 0.9 percent fall in the BSE SmallCap index.
HDFC Bank stocks plunged over 8 percent on Wednesday, followed by Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, JSW Steel, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, and Reliance Industries (0.8 percent).
Among sectors, the Nifty Bank, Financial Services, and Private Bank indices declined over 4 percent each. The Nifty Metal index tumbled 3 percent, and the Nifty PSU Bank index 1.7 percent. The Nifty IT index advanced 0.65 percent.
The Nifty 50 saw its biggest one-day fall since February 24, 2022, as tensions in the Middle East and dimming hopes of a Fed rate cut also hit investor sentiment. All sectoral indices except Nifty IT ended in the red, with Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services down more than 4 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 3.68 percent to close at 15,282.32 — its lowest level since November 2022.
The mainland Chinese CSI 300 fell to an almost five-year low after China’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth missed estimates. The index, which measures the largest companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, fell 2.18 percent to close at 3,229.08.
The US stocks ended lower on Tuesday after mixed earnings from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs pressured banks, and as sell-offs in Boeing and Apple weighed on the S&P 500.
Oil declined as the drag from a stronger US dollar and broader risk-off tone offset concerns over escalating Middle East tensions, including continued attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
(VP)