Sensex slides 300 pts, Nifty near 18,150; HDFC twins slump 4%

Equity benchmark indices slightly pulled back with opening losses on Friday as contagion fears in the regional banking space deepened on Wall Street overnight. The BSE Sensex fell 400 points to 61,338, and the NSE Nifty50 slipped 100 points to 18,150.

HDFC twins slumped 4 per cent leading losses on the Sensex, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Life, Tata Steel were the other frontline losers.

On the flip side, ICICI Bank, L&T, Axis Bank Nestle, Ultratech Cement and SBI were among the top Sensex gainers.

The broader markets, meanwhile, opened higher. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose up to 0.3 per cent.

Among other stocks, Manappuram Finance plunged 10 per cent after the ED froze the company’s assets worth Rs 143 crore following searches at six premises belonging to the firm and its managing director VP Nandakumar.

Sectorally, Nifty Financial index lost the most, dropping over 1 per cent while PSB, FMCG and auto pockets bucked trend and held gains of up to 0.5 per cent.