Sensex, Nifty tumble on weak global cues

Mumbai: Benchmark indices ended sharply down on Thursday in line with international peers with Sensex falling over 700 points and Nifty falling over 200 points. The fall eroded market capitalisation (mcap) by Rs1,49,147.04 crore to Rs278,75,473.79 crore on BSE.

At close, Sensex ended 770.48 points or 1.29 per cent down at 58,766.59, and Nifty closed 216.50 points or 1.22 per cent lower at 17,542.80. Nearly, 1,952 shares have advanced, 1,473 shares have declined and 153 shares remained unchanged.

Reliance Industries, TCS, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys were among the major losers on the Sensex.

BSE LargeCap index fell 1.16 per cent, however, BSE MidCap and SmallCap ended 0.57 per cent and 0.48 per cent up.

"Domestic indices moved in line with peers, while prospects of higher rate hikes, elevated inflation and a slowing economy put pressure on stock markets around the world. Additionally, ongoing support from FIIs will obscure the weakness, helping domestic indices to stay resilient," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Global stock markets started September on a negative note, extending their declines into a fifth day as weak Chinese data and new Covid-19 lockdowns in the world's second-largest economy weighed on sentiments and on deepening worries about aggressive rate hikes and record-high inflation in the Euro region.

From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank were among the major laggards. In contrast, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Titan, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra and IndusInd Bank were the gainers. Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai ended lower. Stock markets in Europe were trading in the negative zone during mid-session deals. The US markets had ended in the red on Wednesday.