The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes continue to reel under losses in noon deals as investors booked profits after witnessing a massive selloff on the Wall Street. The Sensex fell as much as 692 points at the day's lowest level and Nifty touched an intraday low of 11,332.85. A gauge of global stocks turned lower on Thursday as US markets opened and were weighed down by weakness in the technology sector, while the dollar continued its bounce from more than two-year lows. Signs the US economy's rebound from coronavirus-driven lockdowns could be stalling in the absence of another round of fiscal stimulus also weighed. Back home, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Infosys were among the biggest drags on the Sensex.
As of 12:24 pm, the Sensex fell 445 points to 38,545 and Nifty tumbled 124 points to 11,403.
Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Bank index's nearly 2 per cent fall. State-run lenders, private banks, financial services, FMCG, metal, realty and energy shares were also witnessing selling pressure.
On the other hand, auto and media shares were bucking the weak trend.
Mid- and small-cap shares were also witnessing selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.6 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 0.4 per cent.
Forty out of 50 shares in the Nifty 50 basket were trading lower. Wipro was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2.3 per cent to Rs 276. ITC, JSW Steel, UPL, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement and NTPC also fell between 1.4-2.2 per cent.
On the flipside, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Infratel, Zee Entertainment, Tata Motors, TCS, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco and Britannia were among the notable gainers.
The overall market breadth was negative as 1,474 shares were advancing while 957 were declining on the BSE.
(With inputs from Reuters)
