RIL, banks drag Sensex 871 pts lower at 49,180, Nifty below 14,550

Stock market updates: Feeble global sentiment kept market gains in check as investors chose to stay on the sidelines on Wednesday. Asian shares skidded to a two-week trough on Wednesday and the dollar neared four-month highs as coronavirus lockdowns in Europe and potential US tax hikes hit risk appetite.

Add to it, North Korea is said to have fired non-ballistic cruise missiles over the weekend targeting the US. President Joe Biden, however, has said he does not consider North Korea's act as a provocation.

Against this backdrop, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan fell 1.3 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei stumbled 2 per cent while South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.4 per cent. Chinese shares were in the red for a second day with the blue-chip CSI300 index down 1.65 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng skidded 2.2 per cent.

In Europe, the pan-regional STOXX 600 index fell 0.6 per cent in early trade. However, futures of three main US stock indicies were trading higher in the range of 0.3 per cent to 1 per cent.

Back home, benchmark indices turned sharply lower in the last hour of trade with the frontline S&P BSE Sensex plunging 931 points to hit a low of 49,120. The downfall was contained at 49,180 level with a cut of 871 points, or 1.74 per cent, by close. Only two constituents -- Power Grid and Asian Paints -- managed to settle the day in the green while all other counters fell like ninepins. M&M bled the most, down over 4 per cent on the Sensex, followed by SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, L&T, ITC, NTPC, and ONGC.

Weightage-wise, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Infosys, Axis Bank, ITC, and SBI were responsible for 600 points cut in the Sensex. All these stocks were down between 1.5 per cent and 4 per cent. 

On the NSE, Cipla was the only additional gainer on the Nifty as all other 47 constituents declined. The index ended at 14,549 level, down 265 points or 1.79 per cent.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended 1.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent lower, respectively.

In terms of sectoral trends, all the key indices, barring pharma, ended the day in the red. The Nifty PSU Bank, Metal, and Realty indices slipped up to 3 per cent, while the Nifty Private Bank, Financial Services, Auto, and Bank indices were down 2 per cent. The Nifty Pharma index, meanwhile, was up 0.08 per cent.