Sensex falls over 300 pts, Nifty trades at 19,800 levels; HDFC Bank, IT stocks weigh

Domestic equities plunged for third session straight on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve decided to keep the policy rate unchanged but stuck with forecasts for one more rate hike this year.

BSE benchmark Sensex fell 309.16 points, or 0.46 per cent to 66,491.68, while NSE Nifty 50 traded 82.40 points, or 0.41 per cent lower at 19,819 in the morning session.

HDFC Bank fell over 2 per cent for the second session straight after the private lender said its completed merger with HDFC Ltd would affect some key financial ratios. The bank’s stock was trading at Rs 1,262.20 on BSE, down 2.60 per cent.

Broader markets were outperforming key indices in the morning trade as Nifty Smallcap 250 gained 0.27 per cent, Nifty Midsmallcap 400 jumped 0.21 per cent, Nifty Midcap Select and Nifty Midcap 150 rose 0.18 per cent each, Nifty Midcap 100 jumped 0.17 per cent, and Nifty Midcap 50 gained 0.16 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty 100 fell 0.34 per cent, Nifty 200 plunged 0.26 per cent, Nifty 500 slipped 0.20 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 50 was trading 0.15 per cent lower.

Sectorally, Nifty IT fell 0.74 per cent, Nifty Financial Services slipped 0.51 per cent, Nifty Private Bank slipped 0.47 per cent, the FMCG sector fell 0.40 per cent, and Nifty Bank slipped 0.39 per cent. Meanwhile, Nifty PSU Bank gained 1.34 per cent, Nifty Realty rose 1.06 per cent, Nifty healthcare and media indices jumped 0.30 per cent each, and Nifty Pharma gained 0.23 per cent.

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HCLTech, TCS, L&T, Nestle India, UltraTech Cement were the top laggards in the Sensex and Nifty benchmark indices. Meanwhile, SBI, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, UPL, Hindalco, Adani Ports, Dr Reddys, and Adani Enterprises were the top gainers.