Sensex Tanks 521 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,500 Amid Weak Global Cues

Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro were among the early laggards

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped up to 1.45 per cent. Image: Getty  

New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday started trade in the negative zone tracking a weak trend in the global market.

At 10.15 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 521 points to 58,443, while the NSE Nifty was trading 183 points lower to 17,491.

From the 30-share pack, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro were among the early laggards. In contrast, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the only gainers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped up to 1.45 per cent.    

All the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, were trading in the red. Nifty IT, Nifty Financial Services, and Nifty Metal were underperforming the index by falling as much as 0.56 per cent, 0.55 per cent and 1.17 per cent respectively.

"The tech-heavy NASDAQ has turned distinctly weak and this has led to some profit booking in Indian IT stocks too. But IT is likely to do well as TCS results indicate robust deal wins and order flows," according to V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The country's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services on Monday opened the fourth-quarter earnings season with a stellar set of numbers, crossing the Rs 50,000-crore revenue mark for the first time and recording 7.4 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit to Rs 9,926 crore.

"US stock markets ended sharply lower on Monday as investors started the holiday-shortened week in a risk-off mood, as rising bond yields weighed on market-leading growth stocks ahead of crucial inflation data. Asian markets are trading on a negative note as investors continue monitoring developments surrounding the Covid situation in mainland China," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities.

On Monday, the Sensex tanked 482 points (0.81 per cent) to settle at 58,964. The Nifty declined by 109 points (0.62 per cent) to finish at 17,674.

In Asia, markets in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo were trading lower in mid-session deals. Stocks in the US also ended lower on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2 per cent to $100.45 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares worth Rs 1,145.24 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.