Sensex Falls Over 600 Points From Record High, Nifty Drops Below 11,450

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes fell sharply from record highs as investors' resorted to profit booking ahead of the weekend. Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC and Asian Paints were among the top drags on the Sensex. Earlier in the day, benchmarks opened higher and where in Sensex rose as much as 350 points to hit all-time high of 46,309.63 and Nifty 50 index touched record high of 13,579.35.

As of 2:27 pm, the Sensex was down 103 points at 45,856 and Nifty 50 index declined 50 points to 13,427.

Six of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Pharma index's over 1 per cent decline. Nifty Auto, Bank, IT, Financial Services and Private Bank indexes were also trading with a negative bias.

On the other hand, metal, FMCG, media and PSU banking shares were witnessing buying interest.

Mid- and small-cap shares were also facing selling pressure. The Nifty Midcap 100 index declined 0.3 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 0.1 per cent.

Divi's Labs was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2.45 per cent lower at Rs 3,640. Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eicher Motors, Adani Ports, SBI Life, Cipla, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies also fell between 0.8-2 per cent.

On the flipside, ONGC rose 6 per cent to Rs 97 on the back of sharp rally in crude oil prices. Oil rose on Friday, extending a sharp rally overnight that saw Brent rise above $50 for the first time since March, as coronavirus vaccination rollouts kept hopes alive that demand for crude would build up next year.

GAIL India, NTPC, Coal India, Tata Steel, Indian Oil, ITC, State Bank of India, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,603 shares were advancing while 1,288 were declining on the BSE.