Sensex Crashes Over 1,950 Points On Weak Global Cues; Nifty Trades Below 17,050
New Delhi: The Indian equity benchmarks continued to plunge for the fifth straight session on Monday amid weak global cues. Asian share markets slipped as investors braced for a Federal Reserve meeting at which it is expected to confirm it will soon start draining the massive lake of liquidity that has supercharged growth stocks in recent years.
As of 2:16 pm, the 30-share BSE Sensex pack was down 1,955 points or 3.31 per cent at 57,082 and the broader NSE Nifty slumped 596 points or 3.38 per cent to 17,021.
Mid- and small-cap shares were in the negative zone as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 3.37 per cent and small-cap shares were trading 4.20 per cent lower.
"With gap-down openings tracking weak global cues, markets are likely to continue their sluggish trend," said Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, Capitalvia Global Research Ltd.
On the stock-specific front, Bajaj Finance was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 6.22 per cent to Rs 6,915. JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel and Wipro were also among the laggards.
Also, Zomato and Paytm shares fell 18.48 per cent and 5.64 per cent, respectively, to hit their lowest levels since listing.
The overall market breadth was weak as 456 shares were advancing while 3,069 were declining on BSE.
On the 30-share BSE platform, Bajaj Finance, TechM, Tata Steel, Wipro, Titan, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints attracted the most losses with their shares sliding as much as 2.83 per cent.
Sensex had slumped 427 points or 0.72 per cent to close at 59,037 on Friday, while the broader NSE Nifty had settled 140 points or 0.79 per cent lower at 17,617.
