Sensex tanks 539 points, Nifty drops below 24,100 dragged by HDFC Bank

Benchmark indices fell sharply at the fag-end of trade on Thursday, with the Sensex dropping 539 points and the Nifty slipping below 24,100, as selling in blue-chip HDFC Bank and persistent geopolitical uncertainty weighed on market sentiment.

Falling for the second day, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 539.35 points, or 0.70 per cent, to settle at the day's low of 76,933.59 on the monthly derivatives-expiry day.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 116.90 points, or 0.48 per cent, to end at the day's low of 24,090.85.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech and ITC were the major laggards.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra and Bharat Electronics were among the winners.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, edged higher by 0.67 per cent to USD 88.43 per barrel.

"Expiry-led volatility and the lack of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East continue to keep markets range-bound in the near term," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Shanghai's SSE Composite index ended higher, while Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled lower.

Markets in Europe were trading mostly lower. US markets ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 502.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

On Wednesday, the Sensex declined 183.15 points, or 0.24 per cent, to settle at 77,472.94. The Nifty was down 126.80 points, or 0.52 per cent, to end at 24,207.75.