Stock Market: Sensex Falls 300 Points, Nifty Ends Below 18,000 Amid Volatile Trade. Bajaj Finance Sinks 7%

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj twins, ICICI Bank, Infosys, PowerGrid, Titan, and others were the prime losers

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Thursday closed lower for the second consecutive day after traders digested hawkish minutes from the US Federal Reserve's December meet. The benchmark indices,which opened with marginal gains, later nosedived into negative territory.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which cracked over 600 points to hit day's low of 60,049 levels, closed at 60,353 levels, down 304 points (0.5 per cent). On the other hand, the broader NSE Nifty ended at 17,992 levels, down 50 points (0.28 per cent).

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj twins, ICICI Bank, Infosys, PowerGrid, Titan, and others were the prime losers. On the flip side, ITC, NTPC, HUL, M&M, Nestle, Sun Pharma, and others settled in the green.

Among individual stocks, Bajaj Finance was the top laggard on the Sensex index, down over 7 per cent, after the consumer finance reported that assets under management (AUM) grew by 27 per cent year-on-year (YoY), lower than market expectations, to Rs 2.30 lakh crore as of December 31, 2022.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices as Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices rose up to 0.4 per cent.

Sectorally, Nifty Pharma, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Auto, and Nifty Metal indices were the top performers, as they surged up to 1 per cent. However, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty IT indices were subdued in trade, declining up to 1 per cent.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 60,657, down 637 points. On the other hand, the broader NSE Nifty shed 190 points (down 1 per cent) to close at 18,043 level.

After a hawkish reading of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's meeting, which indicated no rate cuts in 2023, the US equity futures slipped on Thursday. Dow Jones Futures, the S&P 500 Futures, and NASDAQ Futures fell up to 0.2 per cent. European markets, too, were tepid in today's trade as DAX, Stoxx 600, FTSE 100 indices declined up to 0.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupee gained 32 paise to close at 82.50 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, supported by a weaker greenback overseas. Forex traders said factors like strong Asian peers and crude oil prices trading below USD 80 per barrel also helped the currency. However, sustained foreign fund outflows and a weak trend in domestic equities dented investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.75 and touched an intra-day high of 82.50 and a low of 82.80 against the greenback. It finally ended at 82.50 (provisional), registering a rise of 32 paise over its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee recovered from its all-time low level and settled at 82.82 against the dollar.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 2.62 per cent to $79.88 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,620.89 crore, according to exchange data.