Mumbai: BSE benchmark Sensex spiralled lower for the sixth consecutive session on Wednesday to finish below the 57,000-level, weighed by heavy selling in metal, banking and finance stocks amid a sell-off in global equities.
A depreciating rupee and continued foreign capital outflows also affected the market sentiment, traders said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 509.24 points or 0.89 percent to settle at 56,598.28. During the day, it tanked 621.85 points or 1.08 percent to 56,485.67.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined 148.80 points or 0.87 percent to end at 16,858.60.
ITC was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding 2.97 percent, followed by Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, and HDFC twins.
On the other hand, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s and Power Grid were among the winners.
“Domestic equity continued its downfall in sync with its global peers. Markets across the globe are seeing extreme volatility as fear of an economic downturn weighed on investors’ sentiments. Back home aggressive FIIs selling in recent sessions, the upcoming RBI MPC meeting and the monthly derivatives expiry on Thursday are keeping investors on edge.
“Nifty gave up its key support levels and drifted below 17k zones. In the near term, the market is expected to remain under pressure due to global uncertainty. However mixed trends across sectors would continue to offer stock-specific opportunities, especially in auto, consumption with the ongoing festive season,” Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.
In the broader market, the BSE midCap gauge declined 0.47 percent and smallcap index dipped 0.43 percent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, the metal fell by 2.32 percent, bank (1.52 percent), financial services (1.31 percent), energy (1.09 percent), commodities (1.06 percent) and realty (0.76 percent).
Healthcare, IT, consumer discretionary and teck were among the gainers.
A total of 2,092 firms declined, while 1,335 advanced and 105 remained unchanged.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended sharply lower.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with significant losses in mid-session deals. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.
“Investors continue to be sceptical of the domestic market’s higher premium amid the ongoing global deceleration while foreign investors are fleeing emerging economies in search of safer havens.
“Although the domestic economy is buoyed by solid fundamentals, the stock market’s appetite for risk has been hindered by the rising worries of a worldwide recession,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.
The rupee plunged 40 paise to close at an all-time low of 81.93 against the US dollar.
“Nifty fell for the sixth consecutive session on September 28, pulled down by weak global cues and a falling Rupee,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.
Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.08 percent to USD 86.20 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 2,772.49 crore on Wednesday, according to data available with BSE.
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