Sensex, Nifty retreat on global sell-off

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks lurched lower on Thursday after a four-session winning run, in lockstep with a sharp sell-off in world stocks after minutes of Federal Reserve's recent meeting indicated faster-than-expected rate hikes. The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 621.31 points or 1.03 per cent to finish at 59,601.84. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty plunged 179.35 points or 1 per cent to 17,745.90.

"Following a sharp fall in western markets, the domestic market witnessed a gap-down opening and extended its losses led by selling in IT, realty and oil & gas shares. Global markets were wounded by heavy selling as Fed meeting minutes pointed to a faster than expected policy rate hike considering elevated US inflation levels. Investors are also watching the fast spread of Covid cases and stricter restrictions being imposed as it would keep the market highly volatile in the coming days," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking, adds: "Markets may witness further consolidation in the near-term. Apart from the global cues and Covid news, the earnings-related updates would keep the volatility high. Traders should continue with a positive yet cautious approach and focus more on sectors/stocks selection." Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 336.83 crore, as per exchange data.

Tech Mahindra was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding 2.56 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, HDFC twins, Kotak Bank and Infosys. In value terms, RIL, HDFC twins and Infosys accounted for over half of the benchmark's losses. In contrast, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, Bajaj Finance and Titan were among the gainers, rising up to 1.74 per cent. Only seven of the 30 Sensex counters managed to close in the green.

Sector-wise, BSE realty, IT, energy, teck, finance and healthcare tumbled as much as 1.48 per cent, while telecom, auto, consumer durables and utilities logged gains. In the broader markets, the BSE midcap index dipped 0.05 per cent, while the smallcap gauge inched up 0.01 per cent. Wall Street led global markets lower after Fed minutes from its December 14-15 policy meeting showed that policymakers believe the US job market is healthy enough and ultra-low interest rates are no longer needed. "Quicker than previously anticipated rate hike from the US Fed could witness outflows from the domestic markets and could weigh on sentiments," Reliance Securities said in a research note.