Sensex Plunges 600 Points In The Day's Trade, Reliance & Energy Stocks Top Contributors

Indian shares ended the day lower and marked losses for the fourth consecutive session, as energy stocks and blue chips like Reliance and HDFC Bank declined on Wednesday, March 17.

However, analysts said that a healthy correction is always expected after a positive rally in the markets. Moving ahead, investors were cautious today as the US Fed outcome is expected later today and participants are likely to keep an eye on the announcements. Further, firm figures in the bond yields are also affecting the sentiment.  

Back home, the surge in Coronavirus cases in the state of Maharashtra and a possibility of lockdown in other areas has rose the concerns of traders as well as investors, said experts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the nation on Wednesday mentioned that the second wave of the virus needs to be tackled and asked states to ramp-up testing. 

As the bears dominated, Sensex closed lower by 562 points or 1.12 per cent at 49,801.62, while the key index Nifty-50 slipped 189 points to close at 14,721.30. Overall, 2115 shares closed with declines, while 818 shares added gains.  

The banking sector continued to stay under pressure for third straight day of the week. Bank of Baroda declined over five per cent, RBL and Federal Bank shed over four per cent each. The Nifty Bank index slipped below 34,200 as it fell over 600 points.  

Reliance Industries slipped more than two per cent to weigh the index the most on Wednesday. The stock hit its day low of Rs 2,035.10. While ONGC and BPCL were the top index drags as the energy sector saw selling pressure after crude prices went up. The Nifty energy index plunged heavily by over three per cent in the day’s trade.  

The MCX Crude oil March futures were trading higher at Rs 4,721 in the afternoon session on Wednesday.  

Sectorally in the domestic market, all sectors slipped lower and led the overall market sentiment to turn negative.  

On the flipside, the FMCG major ITC and Tech giant Infosys were the only gainers for the index. ITC gained over a per cent in the intraday session.  

In the IPO market, the gaming firm Nazara Technologies was subscribed 3.02 times overall on its first day of bidding, as per 3:00 pm IST (BSE & NSE data). The issue will close on Friday, March 19.  

Global shares closed lower on Wednesday ahead of Fed’s commentary. Dow Jones slipped below 32,900 as energy and industrial stocks posted losses.