Sensex nosedives 871 points; Nifty tumbles 265 points

Amid weak global cues, benchmark Indian equity indices extended their day’s losses on Wednesday. At the end of the trading session, Sensex nosedived 871 points or 1.74% at 49,180, while Nifty gave the 14,600 level to end at 14,549 tanking 265 points or 1.79%.

28 of 30 Sensex stocks ended in the red. M&M, SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank & IndusInd Bank all lost over 3%. While on the upside, Asian Paints up 1.44% & Powergrid rising 0.98% were the only gainers on the Sensex.

Weakness was seen across all the sectoral indices, with Nifty Metal losing the most down 3.24%; while Nifty Realty, Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto slipped in the range of 2.6-3%. Nifty FMCG & Nifty IT tanked 1.41% and 1.16% respectively. The only exception to today’s selloff was the Nifty Pharma index, which managed to end on a flattish note up 0.08%. Meanwhile, India’s VIX rose almost 8.66% and ended at 22.45 levels.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended 1.6% and 1.4% lower, respectively.

“Domestic equities fell sharply on weak global cues and continued apprehensions among investors from surge in coronavirus cases in the country,” said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Further, a sharp rebound in dollar index aggravated concerns despite dip in US bond yields and crude prices, he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul plunged up to 2 per cent.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 2.78% higher at USD 62.48 per barrel.

With inputs from PTI.