Sensex Down 900 Points, Nifty At 17,000 Amid Weak Global Cues

New Delhi: The Indian equity benchmarks on Thursday plunged sharply due to weak global cues.

The BSE Sensex tanked over 1,100 points (2 per cent) in opening trade, tracking losses in index-majors Titan, Wipro, and HDFC twins amid a weak trend in the Asian markets.

At 10.15 am, Sensex was trading 911 points lower at 56,947 in early trade. Meanwhile, the Nifty dipped 260 points to 17,017.

The US Federal Reserve's indication to raise interest rates soon and persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on market sentiment, traders said.

Titan was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 4.06 per cent, followed by Wipro, Dr Reddy’s, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and Infosys.

On the other hand, Maruti was the sole gainer among the 30-share Sensex platform.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index was underperforming the benchmarks and was trading 1.8 per cent lower, while the Smallcap index was down 0.5 per cent.

On account of Republic Day equity, forex, and bullion markets were closed on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex finished 366.64 points higher at 57,858.15. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 128.85 points to close at 17,277.95.

The US Fed on Wednesday indicated that it may raise interest rates in March to fight inflation.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading with deep losses in mid-session deals.

Stock exchanges in the US ended on a mixed note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.93 per cent to $89.12 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 7,094.48 crore Tuesday, as per provisional data.