Stock Market: Sensex Tumbles 774 Points, Nifty Closes Below 17,900. PSB Index Sheds 3.6 Per Cent

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, SBI, IndusInd Bank, HDFC twins, Axis Bank, HDFC, TechM were the prime losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, declined sharply on Wednesday due to severe selling pressure, led by losses in financial stocks and the monthly F&O expiry that weakened investor sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 774 points (1.3 per cent) to close at 60,205 after it recovered from its intra-day low of 60,081. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty lost 226 points to close at 17,892.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, SBI, IndusInd Bank, HDFC twins, Axis Bank, HDFC, TechM were the prime losers. On the flip side, HUL, Maruti, Tata Steel, NTPC, ITC, Nestle, and Airtel were the winners. SBI and IndusInd lost over 4 per cent on Wednesday.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index cracked 1.5 per cent, while Smallcap index lost around 1 per cent.

ACC, Adani Power, Motilal Oswal, Vodafone Idea, Concor and Aurobindo Pharma led Midcap losses, sinking up to 7 per cent. Among other stocks, Indus Towers plunged 7 per cent after the company posted a net loss of Rs 708 crore in Q3FY23.

The sharp fall in Adani Group stocks following a report by a well-known US activist investor Hindenburg Research LLC that said it was shorting them presents a good opportunity to buy these stocks lower from a long-term perspective, analysts say.

Sectorally, the Nifty PSB index tanked 3.6 per cent followed by bank, financial indices. Auto, metals, and FMCG pockets closed nearly flat with fractional cuts.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed marginally higher by 37 points to 60.979. On the other hand, NSE Nifty50 settled at 18,118, up 0.25 points.

Meanwhile, the rupee slipped 2 paise to close at 81.65 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a strong American currency overseas and subdued market sentiments. However, a fall in crude prices in the international market supported the local currency, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened strong at 81.59 to a dollar against the previous close of 81.63. The local unit moved in a range of 81.50 to 81.75 during the day.

It finally settled at 81.65 (provisional) against the US dollar, a fall of 2 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee had declined 21 paise to close at 81.63 against the US dollar.

On Wednesday, Brent crude was trading 0.34 per cent lower at $85.84 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they sold shares worth Rs 760.51 crore, according to exchange data.