Stock Market Crash: Sensex Plunges 888 Points, Nifty Below 19,750. Infosys Tanks 8 Per Cent; IT Sheds 4 Per Cent

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys slumped 8.18 per cent. HUL, HCL, Reliance, Wipro, TCS, TechM were among other prominent losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday crashed due to a weak Q1FY24 report card by Infosys, triggering a rout in the IT stocks and profit booking. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 888 points, (1.3 per cent) to end the session at 66,684. During intra-day trade, Sensex tanked over 1,000 points to hit a low of 66,534. On the other hand, NSE Nifty50 settled at 19,745, down 234 points (1.17 per cent). It touched a low of 19,700.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys slumped 8.18 per cent as the IT firm’s sharp downward revision in its growth guidance took most brokerages by surprise. HUL, HCL, Reliance, Wipro, TCS, TechM were among other prominent losers. On the flipside, L&T, NTPC, SBI, Kotak Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank emerged gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index fell 0.26 per cent, while the BSE Smallcap index added 0.13 per cent.

Sectorally, the Nifty IT index shed 4 per cent. FMCG shed 1 per cent and Metals down nearly 1 per cent. On the other hand, the Nifty PSU Bank, Media, and Auto indices were the only gainers, gaining up to 0.5 per cent. Capital Goods index up 1.7 per cent.

Utkarsh Small Finance Bank made a strong stock market debut on Friday, with its shares getting listed at Rs 40 apiece, a staggering 60 per cent premium over its issue price of Rs 25 per share on the National Stock Exchange. The stock opened at Rs 39.95 on the BSE. At close, Utkarsh SFB was locked at the 20 per cent upper circuit at Rs 47.95, a solid 94 per cent premium to the issue price on the NSE and BSE. The stock hit a low of Rs 37.20 in the intra-day trade.  

In the previous session on Thursday, the Sensex closed at 67,572, up 474 points, while the Nifty50 ended at 19,979, up 146 points.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, and Shanghai ended lower while Seoul and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory. Equity markets in Europe were trading mostly in the green. The US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 1.11 per cent to $80.52 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 3,370.90 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 4 paise to close at 81.97 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by a rebound in the American currency and firm crude oil prices in global markets. Besides, a negative trend in domestic equity benchmarks also dented investor sentiment, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.03 against the dollar and settled at 81.97 (provisional), down 4 paise from its previous close. During the day, the rupee touched a high of 81.94 and a low of 82.05 against the greenback. On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 81.93 against the dollar.