Stock Market: Sensex Slides 286 Points, Nifty Settles Below 18,800 Amid Volatility. All Sectors In The Red

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, PwerGrid, NTPC, Infosys, Nestle closed in the red. L&T, Tata Steel, Airtel, HDFC twins, M&M emerged gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday plunged to a low of 63,200.6 before ending at 63,239, down 284 points amid volatility. The Sensex hit a new record high of 63,602 in intra-day trade on Thursday. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50, settled at 18,771, down 86 points. It hit an intra-day low of 18,760.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, PwerGrid, NTPC, Infosys, Nestle closed in the red. On the flip side, L&T, Tata Steel, Airtel, HDFC twins, M&M emerged gainers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index shed 1 per cent and Smallcap index dropped 0.6 per cent.

All the sectoral indices ended in the negative zone with PSU Bank and Power losing 1 per cent each, while oil & gas, metal, FMCG, pharma, and information technology were down by 0.5 per cent each.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex rose 195 points to 63,523, while the Nifty50, ended at 18,857, up 40 points.

"Apart from weak global market cues, the US Federal Reserve's testimony that inflation would take longer to cool sent jitters amongst the investors as this would mean more rate hikes are in the offing. However, the highlight of the day was Sensex once again touching a new high before giving up gains due to profit-taking," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

In Asian markets, Seoul ended in the green while Tokyo settled lower. Equity markets in Europe were trading lower. The US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.39 per cent to $76.05 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,013.10 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated by 5 paise to close at 81.96 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday amid weak American currency against major rivals overseas. Buying in domestic equities by foreign institutional investors and easing crude oil prices also weighed in favour of the rupee, analysts said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened stronger at 81.94 against the dollar and hit the intra-day peak of 81.88 during the day's trade. The currency finally settled at 81.96 (provisional) against the US dollar, registering a gain of 5 paise over the previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.01 against the dollar.