Sensex tumbles 562 points to end below 50,000

Benchmark Indian equity indices continued their downfall for the fourth consecutive day as investor remained cautious on the 2nd Covid wave, higher crude oil prices, rising US bond yields and awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.

The barometer index, Sensex, fell 562 points or 1.12% to end below the 50,000 at 49,801. The Nifty50 index lost 189 points or 1.27% at 14,721.

26 of 30 stocks on the Sensex ended in the red. ONGC was the biggest loser falling 4.95% followed by NTPC, Sun Pharma, SBI & IndusInd Bank tanking between 2.5-3%. On the upside, ITC, Infosys, TCS & HDFC rose in the range of 0.05-1.2%.

The sell-off was broad-based in today’s trade as the broader markets underperformed their large-cap peers with the BSE MidCap index lost 2.28%, while the BSE SmallCap index slid 2.12%.

All sectoral indices ended the day in the red with the Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank indices tanked around 3%. Whereas Nifty Metal, Nifty Pharma, Nifty Bank, and Nifty Auto fell anywhere between 2.5-3%.

The market breadth also turned negative. On the NSE, 377 shares rose and 1,537 shares fell. A total of 320 shares were unchanged.

Domestic equities dropped for the fourth consecutive day as concerns pertaining to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases in various parts of the country and high inflation continued to weigh on investors’ sentiments, said Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Additionally, he noted that weak cues from global markets ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting outcome caused selling in domestic equities. The two-day meet started on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a negative note, while Hong Kong was in the positive terrain.

Stock exchanges in Europe were largely trading in the red in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.89 per cent lower at USD 67.78 per barrel.

(With inputs from PTI.)