Sensex Plunges 427 Points For The 4th Straight Day, Nifty Below 17,650

Investors have lost Rs 9.73 lakh crore in wealth in a four-day sharp dip on Dalal Street, with the Mcap of the BSE-listed firms falling to Rs 270 lakh crore from Monday’s Rs 280 lakh-crore mark

Sensex has plunged more than 2,200 points in the past four trading sessions. Both the indexes have tumbled more than 3 per cent, respectively, this week. Image: Getty

New Delhi: The key Indian equity benchmarks on Friday extended fall to the fourth straight session because of selling pressure in banking, consumer durables, and metal stocks.

The BSE Sensex slumped 427 points on Friday, tracking weakness in Bajaj Finserv, L&T, and Infosys amid a widespread sell-off in global markets.

Relentless foreign fund outflows further weighed on the bourses, traders said.

The 30-share BSE index ended 427.44 points lower at 59,037.18. Similarly, the NSE Nifty plunged 139.85 points to 17,617.15.

Sensex has plunged more than 2,200 points in the past four trading sessions. Both the indexes have tumbled more than 3 per cent, respectively, this week.

Investors have lost Rs 9.73 lakh crore in wealth in a four-day sharp plunge on Dalal Street, with the market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms falling to Rs 270 lakh crore from Monday’s Rs 280 lakh-crore mark.

Fag-end buying in some select blue-chip counters helped the bourses limit the losses.

Bajaj Finserv was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding 5.37 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, L&T, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance and Infosys.

On the other hand, HUL, Maruti, HDFC twins, and TCS were among the gainers, rising up to 2.68 per cent.

In other Asian markets, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo closed in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with deep losses in mid-session deals.

International oil benchmark Brent crude tumbled 1.92 per cent to $86.68 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 4,679.84 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee advanced by 8 paise to close at 74.43 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday on the back of easing crude oil prices and dollar selling by banks and exporters.

However, the rupee's further recovery was restricted by continuous foreign fund outflows and sell-offs in domestic equities, analysts said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 74.50 a dollar and during the day, it witnessed an intra-day high of 74.40 and a low of 74.55 against the American currency.

The domestic unit finally settled at 74.43 (provisional) against the American currency, up 8 paise over its last close of 74.51.