Stock Market: Sensex Tumbles Over 900 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,350 On Weak Cues. Metals Slip 2%

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, barring Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel, the remaining 28 scrips were trading in the red

The two key equity benchmark, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday opened lower tracking weak global sentiment. The domestic indices plunged sharply in opening trade.

At 9.35 am, the S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 910 points to 58,896. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 17,330, down 260 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, barring Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel, the remaining 28 scrips were trading in the red. HDFC declined 2.65 per cent, while HDFC Bank was down 2.5 per cent. L&T, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Reliance were among the major laggards.

Among specific stocks, shares of Swan Energy surged over 6 per cent after the company’s subsidiary - Triumph Offshore Private signed an agreement to lease out its floating storage regasification vessel to Botas of Turkey.

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices lowered over 1 per cent each.

Volatility gauge, India VIX, meanwhile, climbed over 7 per cent.

All sectors nosedived in the sea of red, with Nifty Metal index being the worst hit, over 2 per cent.

In the previous session on Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 542 points (0.9 per cent) to close at 59,806 level. On the other hand, the Nifty50 ended at 17,590, falling 165 points (0.93 per cent).

"The sell-off in US markets was triggered by a crash of 60 per cent in SVB Financials - a bank that mainly funds start-ups. This impacted sentiments and banking stocks took a beating on concerns that rising interest rates might trigger loan repayment defaults," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services said.

In Asia, markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul declined following losses in US shares. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped by 2.45 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi by 1.21 per cent, Shanghai by 1.15 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei by 1.36 per cent.

In the US, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.8 per cent, The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.7 per cent and the Nasdaq composite fell 2.1 per cent as investors remain anxious about the prospect of more aggressive action by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation with higher interest rates.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) emerged as net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they sold shares worth Rs 561.78 crore, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.54 per cent to $81.15 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated by 8 paise to 82.14 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, weighed down foreign fund outflows and losses in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.12 against the dollar fell further to 82.14, registering a decline of 8 paise over its last close. On Thursday, the rupee settled at 82.06 against the US dollar.