Sensex tanks 470 points; Nifty drops below 14,300

Mumbai, January 18 

Equity benchmark Sensex plunged 470 points on Monday, tracking losses in index majors Infosys, HDFC and ICICI Bank amid a weak trend in global markets.

After a choppy session, the 30-share BSE index ended 470.40 points or 0.96 per cent lower at 48,564.27.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 152.40 points or 1.06 per cent to 14,281.30.

ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 5 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy’s and Maruti.

On the other hand, Reliance Industries, Titan, HDFC Bank and ITC were the gainers.

Domestic equities witnessed pullback for the second consecutive day as weak global cues continued to weigh on investors’ sentiments, said Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

“Barring FMCG, most of the key sectoral indices witnessed sharp correction and volatility index soared over 5 per cent today before recovering from top. A sharp rebound in RIL along with buying interest in HDFC Bank after strong 3Q numbers offered support to benchmark Nifty index,” he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the positive zone, while Seoul and Tokyo were in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a negative note in early deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.22 per cent lower at USD 54.98 per barrel. PTI

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