Sensex Dives 656 Points Led By Sell-Off In IT Stocks; Nifty Settles Below 17,950

New Delhi: The Indian equity benchmarks extended fall on Wednesday due to selling pressure in information technology stocks amid weak global cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 656 points or 1.08 per cent to close at 60,099, while the broader NSE Nifty settled 175 points or 0.96 per cent lower at 17,938. Sensex has plunged more than 1,200 points in the last two trading sessions.

A global technology stock sell-off spooked Asian share markets, as investors worried about inflation and braced for tighter U.S. monetary policy. Higher U.S. yields and interest rate hikes tend to make risky assets like emerging market equities less attractive, leading to outflows of funds from the region.

"US FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) participants have indicated in separate interviews their intent to act decisively to bring inflation under control. As a result, risk assets have been under pressure this week, reflected in net selling of $800 million by FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors) in Indian markets the last five sessions," said S Hariharan, Head - Sales Trading, Emkay Global Financial Services.

Back home, mid- and small-cap shares finished on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index slightly fell 0.06 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index edged up 0.01 per cent.

10 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- settled in red. Nifty IT underperformed the index by diving as much as 2.13 per cent. Nifty Financial Services also witnessed the selling pressure.

"The correction in markets continues for the second day as markets correct 1 per cent post-US bond yield hitting a 2-year high. We see weakness in the market for the coming two weeks. Investors are advised to keep strict stop losses and adopt buy on dips strategy. We expect the volatility to continue till the Budget session. It is advised not to overtrade in the current scenario," said Rahul Sharma, Co-owner, Equity 99.

"For Nifty, 17,880 will act as immediate support on breaking which 17,765 levels are possible. On the upper side, 17,980 will act as strong resistance. Once this level is breached, we might see 18,075 levels and even 18,200," he added.

On the stock-specific front, Infosys was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 2.90 per cent to Rs 1,865. Shree Cements, Asian Paints, Adani Ports and Hindustan Unilever were also among the laggards.

On the flipside, ONGC, Tata Motors, UPL, Coal India and Maruti Suzuki India were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth stood weak as 1,596 stocks advanced while 1,811 declined on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE platform, Infosys, Asian Paints, HUL, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, TCS and Nestle India attracted the most losses with their shares falling as much as 2.85 per cent.

SBI, Maruti, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra and PowerGrid were among the gainers.