Sensex and Nifty started on a lower note today.
New Delhi:
Indian stock benchmarks fell sharply on Thursday amid weak global signals. Asian equities fell as April inflation data in the US, which had been high in April, hurt investor confidence.
Overnight US markets took a hit after inflation data was released, then closed sharply lower.
The US consumer price index rose 8.3 percent from a year ago, slower than its March peak of 8.5 percent, but still near its highest level in more than 40 years.
At home, investors were also waiting for April’s inflation data, which was set to be released at 5:30 p.m. today.
Trends on Singapore Exchange’s Nifty Futures (SGX Nifty) pointed to a gap-down start for domestic indices.
The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 1,024 points, or 1.89 percent, to 53,064 in early trading, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 308 points, or 1.91 percent, to trade at 15,859.
Mid and small cap stocks were negative as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 2.27 percent and small cap fell 1.91 percent.
All 15 sector meters – compiled by the National Stock Exchange – were in the red. Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty IT underperformed the index, falling 2.30 percent, 2.23 percent and 2.56 percent, respectively.
On the stock-specific front, Bajaj Finance was the biggest loser as the stock cracked 3.25 percent to Rs 5,618.50. Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, SBI Life and Tata Motors were also among the losers.
Overall market size was weak with 459 stocks moving up and 2,359 falling on BSE.
All Sensex stocks traded at significant losses. On the 30-share BSE index, Bajaj Finance, M&M, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy’s, L&T and Hindustan Unilever were among the biggest laggards.
Sensex was down 276 points, or 0.51 percent, to 54,088 on Wednesday, while Nifty was down 73 points, or 0.45 percent, to 16,167.
