As for BSE, overall market size was weak as 723 shares rose while 1,882 shares fell.
New Delhi: Indian stock indices plunged on Friday, led by all-sector sell-offs amid weak global signals. At 9:26 a.m., the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 780 points or 1.32 percent to 58,146; while the broader NSE Nifty fell 218 points or 1.24 percent to 17,388.
Asian stock markets fell Friday after red-hot US inflation data and aggressive comments from a Federal Reserve official fueled bets on a more aggressive hike in US interest rates and sent US Treasury yields soaring. Broader moves across Asian equities followed US data showing consumer prices rose 7.5 percent year-on-year in January, marking the largest annual rise in inflation in 40 years.
Sentiment soured further after James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, said the data had made him more “dramatically” aggressive. Bullard, a voting member of the Fed’s rate-setting committee this year, said he now wants a full percentage point of rate hikes by July 1.
Overnight, US markets sold more aggressively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.47 percent, the S&P 500 lost 1.81 percent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.1 percent.
At home, mid- and small-cap stocks traded negatively as the Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.63 percent and small-cap stocks fell 0.61 percent.
On the stock-specific front, Tech Mahindra was the stock’s top winner as the stock cracked 2.86 percent to Rs 1,426.55. Infosys, Wipro, Bajaj Finance and HCL Tech were also among the laggards.
In contrast, BPCL, IOC, ONGC, Hindalco and Coal India were among the winners.
As for BSE, overall market size was weak as 723 shares rose while 1,882 shares fell.
On the 30-share BSE platform, TechM, Infosys, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, Dr. Reddy’s and HCL Tech lost the most, with their shares falling a whopping 2.81 percent.
Sensex was up 460 points, or 0.79 percent, to 58,926 on Thursday, while Nifty was up 142 points, or 0.81 percent, to close at 17,606.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept its key rate unchanged to support economic growth. The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held the lending rate, or repo rate, at 4 percent and the reverse repo rate, or key borrowing rate, at 3.35 percent.
