Sensex Falls 365 Points On Weak Global Cues; Nifty Barely Holds 16,300
Indian equity benchmarks on Monday extended their fall for the second straight session amid weak global cues. Aggressive policy tightening from central banks, a city-wide Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war dented global investor sentiment.
Unabated foreign fund outflows and Indian rupee hitting an all-time low of 77.52 also weighed on sentiment.
The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 365 points or 0.67 per cent to close at 54,471, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 109 points or 0.67 per cent down to settle at 16,302.
Mid- and small-cap shares finished weak as Nifty Midcap 100 slumped 1.78 per cent and small-cap dived 2.12 per cent.
14 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- settled in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty FMCG, Nifty Metal and Nifty Consumer Durables underperformed the index by falling as much as 1.47 per cent, 2.03 per cent and 1.55 per cent, respectively. Nifty IT, however, closed a tad higher.
On the stock-specific front, Reliance Industries was the top loser as the stock cracked 4.30 per cent to Rs 2,508. Nestle India, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank and Tata Steel were also among the losers.
The overall market breadth stood negative as 1,049 shares advanced while 2,416 declined on BSE.
On the 30-share BSE index, RIL, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, SBI, Hindustan Unilever, ITC and ICICI Bank were among the top laggards.
In contrast, PowerGrid, HCL Tech, Infosys, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, Bajaj Finance and UltraTech Cement, TCS and Sun Pharma finished in the green.
Meanwhile, state-insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC's) initial share sale was oversubscribed 2.88 times on the final day of bidding so far. The IPO closes at 7 pm today.
