Equities fall in early trade; Sensex slides 530 points

Mumbai, September 14

Benchmark Sensex tumbled 530 points and the broader Nifty shed 172 points in early trade on Wednesday as concerns over further rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve to tame inflation and weak global cues spooked investor sentiments.

After four continuous sessions of gains, the 30-share Sensex plunged 530.36 points or 0.88 per cent to 60,040.72 points while the Nifty declined 150.75 points or 0.83 per cent to 17,919.30 points.

As many as 21 stocks, including Reliance Industries, from the Sensex pack fell in early trade amid significant volatility.

Asian markets were in the negative territory amid expectations of aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to tackle inflation which was higher than expected in August. On Tuesday, the US and European markets, too, closed in the red.

On Tuesday, the 30-share Sensex surged 455.95 points or 0.76 per cent to close at a five-month high of 60,571.08 while the broader Nifty climbed 133.70 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 18,070.05. Previously, the Nifty had closed above the 18,000-mark on April 4 this year.

In the last four sessions, Sensex had gained over 1,540 points or 2.59 per cent while Nifty had risen by 445 points or 2.9 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors pumped Rs 1,956.98 crore into domestic equities on Tuesday, as per data available with BSE.

Brent crude futures were marginally higher at USD 93.32 per barrel.