Sensex Skids 220 Points In Early Trade, Nifty At 17,400; Voda Idea Jumps 12 Per Cent

Gains in Reliance Industries, HDFC, Infosys, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance were offset with losses in HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and State Bank of India

New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty50, the key Indian equity benchmarks, gave up initial gains in a rollercoaster session on Thursday. Gains in oil and gas and pharmaceutical shares were offset by losses in financial stocks. Broader markets were mixed in early deals, with the midcap index down 0.1 per cent and the smallcap gauge up 0.2 per cent.

According to market analysts, weekly expiry of index futures and option contracts added to volatility. The Sensex fell as much as 220 points to 58,436 and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 17,405 during early trade.

Shares of Vodafone Idea soared 12 per cent to Rs 16.4 after the company said its bondholders will receive interest in time on the due date of December 13 as the company managed to raise funds for the repayment.

Only the Nifty Pharma and Metal indices were in the green, while the Nifty Bank index was the top laggard, down 1 per cent.

Gains in Reliance Industries, HDFC, Infosys, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance were offset with losses in HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and State Bank of India.

Eight of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Bank index's 0.4 per cent fall. Nifty Financial Services, Metal, PSU Bank, Private Bank and Auto indices were also trading with a negative bias.

Midcap and Smallcap shares were outperforming their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.27 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 0.84 per cent.

JSW Steel was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 1.6 per cent to ₹ 662. HDFC Bank, TCS, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, NTPC, Hindalco, Titan, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eicher Motors, and BI Life were also among the losers.

On the flipside, Bharat Petroleum, Reliance Industries, UPL, Dr Reddy's Labs, Indian Oil, Asian Paints and Coal India were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,761 shares were advancing while 938 were declining on the BSE.

On the other hand, MapmyIndia’s initial public offering (IPO), with a price band of ₹1,000-1,033 a share, opened for public subscription and the three-day issue on Thursday would close on December 13. The digital mapping firm on Wednesday said it has mobilised ₹312 crore from anchor investors ahead of its initial share sale.