Benchmark indices extend falling streak to fifth day

Mumbai, October 25

Benchmark Sensex and Nifty plunged nearly 1% on Wednesday due to heavy selling in financial and IT shares as the ongoing tensions in the West Asia unnerved investors.

Falling for the fifth day running, the BSE Sensex tanked 522.82 points to settle at 64,049.06 with 24 of its components ending in the red. The index plunged by 2,379 points in the five sessions. The Nifty declined by 159.60 points to 19,122.15. In the five sessions, the index lost around 690 points.

Among the Sensex firms, Infosys fell the most by 2.76%. Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Titan and Axis Bank were among the major laggards. Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti and Nestle were the gainers.

“Investor sentiment is on edge as tensions in West Asia continue to drag the market. Despite a drop in oil prices and an optimistic view of the progressing Q2 results season, investors took a cautious approach due to the expectation that a higher interest rate scenario would continue slowing future growth,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Seoul ended lower. European markets were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended in the green on Tuesday. — PTI

Rs 14.60 lakh cr wiped off in five sessions

• Investors became poorer by Rs 14.60 lakh crore in five days of market slump amid mounting tensions in the West Asia and higher valuations of Indian stocks
• Falling for the fifth day running, the BSE Sensex tanked 522.82 points to settle at 64,049.06 points
• In five days, the Sensex has plunged 2,379.03 points