Sensex Tanks 500 Points, Nifty At 24,800; Ambuja To Acquire Orient Cement

In a sharp sell-off today, the benchmark indices took a steep dive with the BSE Sensex plunging by 500 points and the NSE Nifty sliding 200 points from its intraday highs. The market witnessed a broad-based decline as all sectors turned red, signaling widespread negative sentiment.

Key sectors such as banking, IT, and auto were the worst hit, dragging the indices down.

Indian equity indices opened on a mixed note, tracking a muted showing on Wall Street overnight and Asian markets on Tuesday morning.

At the opening bell, the BSE Sensex was down 46.67 points, at 81,105, while the Nifty 50 was at 24,789, up 8 points, or 0.03 per cent.

Global Cues

Meanwhile, markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly lower on Tuesday, following a mixed showing on Wall Street overnight.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was trading down 1.3 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.2 per cent and its small cap peer Kosdaq was down 2 per cent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was also down 1.24 per cent, and the broad based Topix was trading 0.79 per cent lower.

In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1 per cent, and the CSI300 was down 0.32 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was trading ahead by 0.6 per cent.

That apart, global equity markets lost ground on Monday as traders remained cautious amid rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over the US presidential election that helped push gold futures to new highs.

The Israeli military is continuing its attacks against Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, with hundreds of Beirut residents fleeing their homes late on Sunday as explosions rocked the Lebanese capital.

The benchmark S&P 500 and Dow finished lower, with defensive stocks including real estate and healthcare among the leading drags. The Nasdaq closed slightly stronger, with Nvidia finishing at a record high, ahead of a busy week for corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.80 per cent, to 42,931.60, the S&P 500 fell 0.18 per cent to 5,853.98 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.27 per cent to 18,540.01.