Sensex Drops Over 550 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,100; HDFC Life, Titan, Bajaj Finserv Top Drags

On BSE, the overall market breadth was weak as 553 shares were advancing while 2,239 were declining.

New Delhi: The Indian equity indices on Monday traded lower led by selling pressure across all sectors during opening deals. As of 9:29 am, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 578 points or 1 per cent to 57,256; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 179 points or 1.04 per cent down to 17,097.

Asian share markets pared sharp early losses as a glimmer of hope emerged for a diplomatic solution to the Russian-Ukraine standoff. Wall Street futures rallied on news U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed in principle to hold a summit on the Ukraine crisis.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan pared their losses to be down 0.4 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei halved its drop to be down 0.9 per cent. Also, troubling markets has been the prospect of an aggressive tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve as inflation runs rampant. 

Back home, mid-and small-cap shares were trading on a negative note as Nifty Midcap 100 index moved 1.31 per cent lower and small-cap shares shed 2.04 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, HDFC Life was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 2.28 per cent to Rs 577.50. Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Consumer Products, UPL and UltraTech Cement were also among the laggards.

In contrast, NTPC, PowerGrid and Dr Reddy’s were among the gainers.

On BSE, the overall market breadth was weak as 553 shares were advancing while 2,239 were declining.

On the 30-share BSE platform, Titan, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finance attracted the most losses with their shares sliding as much as 1.79 per cent.

Sensex had dropped 59 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 57,833 on Friday; while Nifty had moved 28 points or 0.16 per cent lower to end at 17,276.