Panic selling drags Nifty over 500 points, settles just above 17,000; Sensex sinks 1,687 points

Benchmark indices slipped nearly 3 per cent each on Friday on heavy across-the-board selling amid a negative trend in global markets and unabated foreign fund outflows. The 30-share index crashed 1687.94 points or 2.87 per cent to end at 57,107.15. Similarly, Nifty slipped 509.80 points or 2.91 per cent to end at 17,026.45.

IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tanking over 6 per cent, followed by Maruti, Tata Steel, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, HDFC and Titan. On the other hand, Dr Reddy’s and Nestle India were among the gainers.

JSW Steel, Hindalco Industries, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and Adani Ports were among major losers on the Nifty. Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Divis Labs, Nestle and TCS were the gainers. Among sectors, except pharma which was up nearly 2 per cent, all other sectoral indices lost from 1 to 6 per cent. Nifty Realty was the top loser as it crashed 6.26 per cent or 32.90 points. Nifty Bank was down by 1,339.25 points or 3.58 per cent to close at 36,025.50.

Markets saw sharp correction this week amid renewed concerns pertaining to COVID-19. Sensex and Nifty declined close to 4 per cent this week and are down around 8 per cent from their highs, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.

“The new variant of COVID-19 is presenting challenges in the form of lockdowns and travel bans. Apart from COVID-related concerns, inflation remains a worry for countries across the globe. FIIs have been net sellers this week. Equity markets in the near term will closely follow the impact of new COVID variant, inflation data, and central bank policies,” he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo sank as much as 2.67 per cent. Stock exchanges in Europe too plunged up to 3.51 per cent in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude tanked 5.62 per cent to USD 77.60 per barrel.

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