Stock Market: Sensex Plunges 442 Points, Nifty Holds 17,600 Amid Weak Global Trends

Stock update: Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies, and ICICI Bank were among the major losers on the Sensex

The broader markets also slumped in tandem as Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 slipped up to 0.5 per cent.

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Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Thursday plunged sharply lower in the opening trade due to weak global trends.

At 10.30 am, the BSE Sensex declined 442 points to 59,094, while the NSE Nifty dipped 115 points to 17,643.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies, and ICICI Bank were among the major laggards. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.

The overall sentiment of the 30-share BSE stood negative as 10 scrips were advancing while rest 20 were declining.

The broader markets also slumped in tandem as Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 slipped up to 0.5 per cent.

Sectorwise, Barring Nifty Realty, all sectoral indices dropped in negative territory. Nifty IT and Nifty Bank faced the worst brunt as both the indices dropped over 1 per cent each.

Among specific stocks, shares of SpiceJet tanked as much as 14.7 per cent after its chief financial officer resigned, with the low-cost carrier posting a wider quarterly loss and facing increased scrutiny over mid-air incidents.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 1,564 points (2.70 per cent) to settle at 59,537, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 446 points (2.58 per cent) to 17,759.

Stock markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi.

"Domestic equities are likely to drift lower in early trades Thursday, tracking weakness in the Asian pack after the US markets overnight ended weaker," Prashanth Tapse - research analyst, senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong were trading lower, while Shanghai quoted in the green in mid-session deals. The US markets had ended lower on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 2.84 per cent to $96.49 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 4,165.86 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.