Markets recoil amid global sell-off

Mumbai: Equity indices nosedived for the fifth straight session on Thursday as investors took money off the table amid foreign fund outflows and heavy selling in global markets.

Participants also preferred to remain in a risk-averse mode ahead of the Union Budget next week, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex skidded 535.57 points or 1.13 per cent to finish at 46,874.36. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 149.95 points or 1.07 per cent to 13,817.55. The Sensex has now lost 2,917.76 points in five days, while the Nifty has retreated 827.15 points.

HUL was the top loser in the Sensex pack on Thursday, shedding 3.65 per cent, followed by Maruti, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finserv. On the other hand, Axis Bank, SBI, ONGC, ICICI Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers, jumping up to 6.16 per cent. On the global front, Wall Street posted its biggest one-day percentage drop in three months amid a wave of profit-booking, even as the US Fed left the benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero and vowed to maintain its bond buying program. Asian and European bourses too wilted under selling pressure amid unabated rise in Covid-19 cases.

"Market turned cautious after the unidirectional upside of the last 10 months due to ambiguity ahead the Budget and profit booking in the global market due to over-enthusiasm. "Global risk parameters increased despite the US Fed maintaining its supportive policy, due to high speculation in the equity market and likely drop in fiscal and monetary liquidity in the future,"said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. BSE realty, IT, FMCG, teck, auto and healthcare indices lost up to 2.07 per cent, while oil and gas, telecom, bankex and consumer durables managed to close in the green.

The broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices slipped up to 0.46 per cent. According to traders, recent foreign fund outflows from the domestic capital markets are also weighing on market momentum. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth a net Rs 1,688.22 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended in the red. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with significant losses in early deals.