New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, two key equity benchmarks, on Wednesday, which opened trade with nominal gains, soon slipped into the red tracking volatility in the global market.
The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 480 points to 53,885, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 16,103, down 137 points, at 10.30 am.
On the BSE, of 30 constituents only six stocks were trading in the positive zone.
On the Sensex platform, Asian Paints was the top loser (2.91 per cent), followed by HUL, Infosys, L&T, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Titan, and others. On the flip side, ICICI Bank was the top gainer (0.77 per cent), followed by Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, HDFC, and others.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also gained up to 0.9 per cent.
Sectorwise, Metal, Financial, Realty, and Energy indices on the Nifty led gains, rising up to 1.5 per cent. On the flip side, defensive plays such as IT, FMCG and Pharma were all muted. On NSE, 13 out of the 15 sector gauges were trading in the green.
Logistics player Delhivery’s initial public offering (IPO) opened for subscription today with a price band of Rs 462-487 per share. The three-day issue will close on Friday, May 13.
In the previous session on Tuesday, BSE benchmark settled 105 points (0.19 per cent) lower at 54,364, while the Nifty dropped 61 points (0.38 per cent) to end at 16,240.
In Asian markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Seoul were trading in the green. In the US, stock exchanges had ended mostly higher on Tuesday.
"Major US stock benchmarks ended mixed on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average booking a fourth straight day of losses, on the eve of key inflation reading. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended higher on Tuesday," Deepak Jasani, head of retail research, HDFC Securities, told the PTI.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude gained 1.64 per cent to 104.14 per barrel.
According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to offload shares worth Rs 3,960 crore on Tuesday.