Sensex crashes over 1,000 points, Nifty trades below 21,750; HDFC Bank, IEX down up to 6%

Indian equity benchmarks traded sharply lower in Wednesday's early deals amid weak global cues. The domestic indices were dragged by banks and financials. The 30-share BSE Sensex dived 1,045 points or 1.43 per cent to trade at 72,084, while the NSE Nifty was down 313 points or 1.42 per cent to trade at 21,719. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were down as Nifty Midcap 100 slumped 1.43 per cent and small-cap fell 1.45 per cent.

On the global front, Asian markets slipped today after China's economic growth in December quarter missed expectations. Overnight, Wall Street equities also closed lower after a key Federal Reserve official said that the US central bank should not rush to lower rates, dampening expectations of early rate cuts.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Rs 656.57 crore worth of shares on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 369.29 crore worth of shares, exchange data showed.

"Market is likely to turn slightly weak in the near-term, getting impacted by some negative global and domestic cues. The global negativity will come from the rising bond yields in the US (the 10-year yield is at 4.04 per cent) responding to concerns that the sharp rate cuts expected from the Fed this year may not materialise. Now, indications are that the Fed is unlikely to cut in March and the total cuts in 2024 may not be five or six that the market had partly discounted. This will be a drag on global equity markets," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

All the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 2.48 per cent and 2.56 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, HDFC Bank was the top loser in the Nifty pack as the stock cracked 5.67 per cent to trade at Rs 1,584. Hindalco, Tata Steel, Axis Bank and Bajaj Auto fell up to 2.30 per cent.

In contrast, HDFC Life, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, ITC and PowerGrid were among the top gainers.

The overall market breadth was weak as 1,744 shares were declining while 624 were advancing on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel and SBI were among the top laggards.

Also, BSE 500 stocks such as IEX, Lodha, Finolex Industries, Network18, The Phoenix Mills and SAIL tanked up to 5.03 per cent. On the other hand, Capri Global Capital, ICICI Lombard, Medanta, Jyothy Labs, Cochin Shipyard, KEI Industries and Angel One jumped up to 5.58 per cent.

Also read | Stock recommendations by analysts for January 17, 2024: AB Capital, Cipla and UBL

Also read | What Ray Dalio says on Indian market valuations, role of meditation in his success