Sensex Halts 3-Day Winning Run, Plunges 773 Points, Nifty Settles Below 17,400

New Delhi: The Indian equity benchmarks plunged on Friday, halting a three-day winning streak as investors worried about foreign fund outflows after U.S. inflation data marked the biggest annual increase in 40 years. The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 773 points or 1.31 per cent to close at 58,153, while the broader NSE Nifty settled 231 points or 1.31 per cent lower at 17,375.

Mid- and small-cap shares finished in the negative zone as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 2.02 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index moved 2.37 per cent lower.

All the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- settled in red. Nifty IT underperformed the index, slipping as much as 2.72 per cent.

U.S. data showed that consumer prices surged 7.5 per cent in January on a year-over-year basis. Sentiment further soured after St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said the data had made him "dramatically" more hawkish. Bullard, a voting member of the Fed's rate-setting committee this year, said he now wanted a full percentage point of interest rate hikes by July 1.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept key rates unchanged to support economic growth. The central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) held the lending rate, or the repo rate, at 4 per cent and the reverse repo rate, or the key borrowing rate, at 3.35 per cent.

"There was some enthusiasm post (RBI) policy. But, with global cues, again the (foreign) outflows are going to happen. Though we are at status quo currently, if the rate hike happens in March in the U.S., the outflows will continue," Anita Gandhi, Director at Arihant Capital Markets, told news agency Reuters.

Foreign investors have sold a net $5.58 billion in Indian equities so far this year, Reuters data showed, compared with a net purchase of $5.08 billion in the same period last year.

On the stock-specific front, Grasim Industries was the top Nifty laggard as the stock dived 3.39 per cent to Rs 1,708.60. Tech Mahindra, Infosys, UPL and HCL Tech were also among the losers.

Also, Zomato tumbled 5.98 per cent as the food delivery firm's expenses in the third quarter (Q3) stood higher at Rs 1,642.6 crore as against Rs 755.7 crore in the same period last fiscal.

On the flipside, IOC, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, NTPC and BPCL were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth stood weak as 934 shares advanced while 2,373 declined on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE platform, TechM, Infosys, HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cements and Wipro attracted the most losses with their shares falling as much as 2.94 per cent.

And, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, M&M and ITC were among the gainers.

"On the technical front, 17,250 and 17,450 are immediate support and resistance in Nifty 50 respectively. For Bank Nifty 38,200 and 38,800 are respective immediate support and resistance," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities.