Sensex tanks over 300 pts in early trade; Nifty tests 15,500

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Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 300 points in early trade on Wednesday, tracking losses in index-heavyweights HDFC, Infosys and ICICI Bank amid a largely negative trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE index was trading 309.54 points or 0.60 per cent lower at 51,625.34 in initial deals, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 70.45 points or 0.45 per cent to 15,504.40.

Tech Mahindra was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 3 per cent, followed by ITC, HDFC, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, Infosys and ICICI Bank. On the other hand, NTPC, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Maruti and Reliance Industries were among the gainers. In the previous session, Sensex ended 2.56 points lower at 51,934.88, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 7.95 points or 0.05 per cent to 15,574.85.

Also read: Sensex jumps over 250 pts in early trade; Nifty tops 15,650

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth 449.86 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data. The steady decline in fresh Covid-19 cases and rising recovery rates indicate that India is succeeding in bending the pandemic's curve, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"With no short-term risks to the market, consolidation is likely in the near term with a stock-specific action in response to the news. Since markets are over-bought and over-valued investors should exercise caution even when the markets are exhibiting surprising resilience," he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading in the negative territory in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was trading in the positive territory. Equities on Wall Street closed with losses in the overnight session. International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.24 per cent higher at USD 70.42 per barrel.