Sensex sinks 1,159 pts amid F&O expiry; investors lose Rs4.82 L cr

Mumbai, October 28

Posting its biggest one-day rout in over six months, the BSE Sensex nosedived 1,159 points on Thursday as investors unwound long positions on expiry of monthly derivative contracts amid a string of lacklustre earnings and cautious sentiment overseas.

Terrible Thursday

• The Sensex tanked 1,159 points to close at 59,984.70, its biggest drop since April 12 this year, when it had plunged 1,708 points
• Banking, FMCG and energy shares came under heavy selling pressure, while midcap and smallcap counters also suffered hefty losses
• Similarly, the Nifty plummeted 353.70 points to finish at 17,857.25

Banking, FMCG and energy shares came under heavy selling pressure, while midcap and smallcap counters also suffered hefty losses.

Sliding for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE benchmark tanked 1,158.63 points to close at 59,984.70. This was its biggest drop since April 12 this year, when it had plunged 1,708 points.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty plummeted 353.70 points or 1.94 per cent to finish at 17,857.25.

ITC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tumbling 5.54%, a day after reporting a lower-than-estimated 10.09% increase in consolidated net profit for the second quarter.

ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, Titan, SBI and HDFC Bank were among the other major laggards, shedding as much as 4.39%. Only six Sensex counters managed to close in the green.

IndusInd Bank topped the gainers’ chart with a jump of 2.94% after clocking a 73% rise in Q2 net profit.

L&T, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Maruti and Bajaj Finance were the other winners.

Investors lost Rs 4.82 lakh crore in Thursday’s session, with the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies standing at Rs 2,60,48,949.80 crore “In our view, in addition to weak global cues, unwinding of long positions especially in financials on F&O expiry, which had seen sharp rally in recent period were the prime reasons for sharp market correction today,” said Binod Modi, Head — Strategy at Reliance Securities. — PTI