Sensex Plunges Over 550 Points, Nifty Below 15,750; ONGC, Tata Motors, Hindalco Top Drags

New Delhi: The Indian equity indices decline for the fifth straight session on Tuesday taking cues from the global markets amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Japan's Nikkei sank 0.3 per cent while Australian shares were down 0.24 per cent amid a sea of red across Asian markets. Brent crude, which briefly hit more than $139 a barrel in the previous session, jumped about 0.8 per cent at $124.20.

Overnight, Wall Street's main indexes fell sharply with the Nasdaq Composite confirming it was in a bear market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.37 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 2.95 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.62 per cent.

Back home, as of 1:27 pm, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 573 points or 1.08 per cent to 52,270; while the broader NSE Nifty dived 134 points or 0.84 per cent to 15,729.

Mid-and small-cap shares were trading in the negative zone as Nifty Midcap 100 index moved 0.73 per cent lower and small-cap shares shed 0.13 per cent.

11 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red in afternoon deals. Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto were underperforming the index by falling as much as 1.92 per cent and 2.52 per cent, respectively. Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma moved as much as 2.18 per cent and 0.81 per cent higher, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, ONGC was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 4.33 per cent to Rs 178.85. Tata Motors, Hindalco, Eicher Motors and JSW Steel were also among the laggards.

On BSE, the overall market breadth was slightly positive as 1,615 shares were advancing while 1,583 were declining.

On the 30-share BSE index, Axis Bank, SBI, Maruti, Tata Steel, HDFC, Titan and M&M were among the top losers. In contrast, Infosys, TCS, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Wipro were trading in the green.

Sensex had nosedived 1,491 points or 2.74 per cent to close at 52,843 on Monday; while Nifty had moved 382 points or 2.35 per cent lower to settle at 15,863.