NIFTY50 falls below 23,250, SENSEX nosedives over 700 points as crude tops $109 per barrel

The Indian equity benchmarks nosedived on Friday, September 11, mirroring losses in global markets after crude oil surpassed $109 per barrel igniting fears that spiralling inflation will adversely impact corporate earnings among investors.

The SENSEX fell as much as 742 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 23,231 on the back of a broad-based selling pressure.

As of 9:22 am, the SENSEX was down 625 points at 74,278 and NIFTY50 index dropped 221 points to 23,255.

Asian markets were trading sharply lower tracking a surge in crude oil and rising bond yields in the United States. Japan's Nikkei fell 2.96%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 2.04%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.53% and South Korea's KOSPI tumbled 2.54%.

Iran-aligned Houthis seized control of Yemen's port of Mocha on Thursday, posing a further threat to Red Sea traffic, while Gulf ⁠traffic remains restricted through the Strait of Hormuz as tanker attacks in the region have intensified in recent days.

Back home, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were top drags on the SENSEX. They collectively wiped out over 450 points from the SENSEX, data from BSE showed.

Selling pressure was broad-based as 13 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading lower led by the NIFTY Realty index's over 3% fall. NIFTY Financial Services, Bank, PSU Bank, Consumer Durables, Metal, Private Bank, Auto and FMCG indices also fell between 0.6% and 2.7%.

On the other hand, select IT and media stocks were witnessing a mild buying interest.

Broader markets were also facing selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 1.35% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 1.18%.

Hindalco was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 3.5% to ₹978. Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Shriram Finance, Trent, Eicher Motors, InterGlobe Aviation, Adani Enterprises and Larsen & Toubro also fell between 1.5% and 2.45%.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, ONGC, Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, ITC and Wipro were notable gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,432 shares were declining while 578 were advancing on the NSE.