Sensex Slumps Over 1,000 Points, Nifty Barely Holds 16,200; IT Stocks Top Drag

Indian equity benchmarks on Friday plunged sharply in late deals, dragged by selling across all sectors. Asian shares traded lower, tracking an overnight fall in Wall Street after rate hike guidance from the European Central Bank (ECB) and upcoming U.S. inflation data unnerved investors.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) indicated a gap-down start for the domestic indices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 1,004 points or 1.81 per cent to 54,317, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 275 points or 1.67 per cent down to trade at 16,203.

Mid- and small-cap shares were weak as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.78 per cent and small-cap dropped 1.10 per cent.

All the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Oil & Gas were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 2.14 per cent, 2.04 per cent and 1.77 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Kotak Mahindra Bank was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 3.44 per cent to Rs 1,801.05. Bajaj Finance, Hindalco, HDFC and Wipro were also among the laggards.

The overall market breadth was weak as 1,179 shares were advancing while 2,023 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS and Bajaj Finserv were among the top losers.

Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country's biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, plunged 1.77 per cent to hit an all-time intraday low of Rs 709.20.

In contrast, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's, Nestle India, Maruti, Titan and NTPC were trading in the green.