SENSEX, NIFTY50 snap three-day winning streak; HCL Tech, Infosys among top losers

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day winning streak on Wednesday April 22, as investor sentiment turned cautious after United States and Iran did not proceed with the peace talks and the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked triggering a spike in crude oil prices.

The SENSEX fell as much as 831 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,352 dragged down by weakness in information technology (IT) heavyweights like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra.

The SENSEX ended 757 points lower at 78,516 and NIFTY50 index dropped 198 points to close at 24,378.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.2%.

Back home, IT shares faced intense selling pressure, the measure of IT stocks on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell 3.9% to close at 30,496 after HCL Tech’s management flagged a highly volatile demand environment shadowed by tariffs and softened discretionary spends, giving an FY27 growth guidance of 1-4%.

All 10 shares in the NIFTY IT index, barring OFSS, ended lower led by HCL Tech's 10.74% fall. Persistent Systems, Coforge, Infosys, LTI Mindtree and Mphasis also fell between 3% and 5%.

NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Auto, Private Bank and Healthcare indices also fell between 0.15% and 0.9%.

On the flip side, FMCG shares faced buying interest for a second straight session, NIFTY FMCG index rose 0.75%.

NIFTY Metal, Realty, Oil & Gas and Consumer Durable indices also rose around 0.5%.

Broader markets ended on a mixed note as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 0.2% while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index surged 1.13%.

HCL Tech was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, followed by Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Max Healthcare, HDFC Bank and Apollo Hospitals.

On the other hand, Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Tata Motors PV, Hindalco, Jio Financial Services and Adani Enterprises were top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breath was positive as 1,923 shares ended higher while 1,357 closed lower on the NSE.