Sensex, Nifty slip under pressure amid weak global cues

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled on Thursday amid a sharp fall in Adani groupstocks after billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani was charged in the US for alleged bribery and fraud.

Besides, unabated foreign fund outflows and weak trends in Asian and European peers also dragged benchmark indices lower. The BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 422.59 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 77,155.79. During the day, it lost 775.65 points or 0.99 per cent to 76,802.73. The NSE Nifty slumped 168.60 points or 0.72 per cent to 23,349.90.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Adani Ports tumbled over 13 per cent after Gautam Adani was charged by US prosecutors over his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay USD 250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts. All other Adani group stocks, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Ports and Adani Green Energy, fell sharply by up to nearly 23 per cent.

State Bank of India, NTPC, ITC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were also among the major laggards. In contrast, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were among the gainers. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,411.73 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. The Indian stock markets were closed on Wednesday due to assembly elections in Maharashtra.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower, while Shanghai ended higher. European markets were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended mostly in the positive zone. Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.13 per cent to $73.71 a barrel. Snapping its four days of decline, the BSE benchmark Sensex had climbed 239.37 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 77,578.38 on Tuesday.