Sensex tanks 575 points; Nifty skids below 17,700

Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 575 points on Thursday, tracking heavy losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, TCS and Reliance Industries amid a weak trend in global markets.

Declining for the third straight day, the 30-share Sensex slumped 575.46 points or 0.97% to settle at 59,034.95. During the day, it tanked 633.06 points or 1.06% to 58,977.35.

The broader Nifty-50 also declined 168.10 points or 0.94% to close at 17,639.55.

From the 30-share pack, Titan, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Wipro, TCS, Reliance Industries Limited, and Power Grid were the major laggards.

In contrast, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, M&M, and Dr Reddy’s were among the gainers.

In Asia, markets in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo settled lower. Stocks in the United States also ended lower in the overnight session.

“Recent market weakness is partly due to the increasingly hawkish commentary from the U.S. Fed,” V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

International oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.93% to $102 per barrel.

Investors await cues from the RBI policy meeting outcome, which will be announced on April 8.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth ₹2,279.97 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

“Domestic equities closed lower, following the negative global cues. Investors continue to focus on Fed’s possible aggressive monetary policy stance whilst tracking the developments of the Russia-Ukraine war,” according to Mitul Shah, Head of Research at Reliance Securities.