MUMBAI: The benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty fell more than 1 percent on Friday on strong selling in IT, financials and oil stocks in line with weak trends in global markets. The 30-piece Sensex lost 671.15 points, or 1.12 percent, to close at 59,135.13 as 21 of its scrips declined. The index opened lower and continued to slide to hit a low of 58,884.98 on the day.
The broader Nifty plunged 176.70 points, or 1 percent, to close at 17,412.90 with 35 of its shares ending in the red. The index ranged from 17,324.35 to 17,451.50 during the session.
Among Sensex stocks, HDFC Bank fell the most, falling 2.58 percent, followed by SBI (2.12 percent), HDFC (2.09 percent) and IndusInd Bank (2.02 percent).
Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, M&M, L&T, Reliance, Infosys and TCS were among the big losers.
In contrast, Tata Motors, Maruti, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Power Grid and Titan were among the winners.
Sharp selling in financials, banking, IT and capital goods stocks, sparked by weak Asian markets and overnight losses in the US market, dragged benchmark indices lower, analysts said.
“The sell-off in US markets was sparked by a 60 percent plunge at SVB Financials – a bank that mainly finances start-ups. This impacted sentiment and banking stocks took a hit on concerns that rising interest rates could trigger loan defaults,” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Global stock markets fell ahead of US jobs data on Friday on concerns over potential interest rate hikes.
The markets in London, Shanghai, Frankfurt and Tokyo declined. Oil prices were lower.
The global market’s cautious stance on the likelihood of a stronger rate hike was reinforced by further negative signals from the US market. Selling intensified as the market awaited the release of US unemployment and nonfarm payrolls data, said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
In the US, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.8 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.1 percent on Thursday as investors remained concerned about the prospect of more aggressive action from the Federal Reserve to fight inflation with higher interest rates are .
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) emerged as net sellers in the capital market on Thursday, selling shares worth Rs 561.78 crore, according to stock market data.
