SENSEX plunges nearly 900 points, NIFTY50 ends below 23,900 on weak global cues

The Indian equity benchmarks nosedived on Tuesday, June 23, mirroring losses in global equities as market participants factored in expectation of an interest rate hike by Federal Reserve and selloff in recently outperforming tech and artificial intelligence shares also dented the sentiment globally.

The SENSEX dropped as much as 1,012 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 23,785 dragged down by heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Tata Consultancy Services.

The SENSEX ended 893 points or 1.16% lower at 76,200.68 and NIFTY50 index dropped 249 points or 1.03% to settle at 23,854.15.

Markets across Asian ended lower while European shares were also trading with a negative bias. Japan's Nikkei fell 3.5%, South Korea's KOSPI index sank 10%, China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.37% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 1.82%.

In Europe, Germany's DAX fell 1.08%, England's FTSE100 index slipped 0.2% and French CAC40 index declined 0.63%.

Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as 13 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended lower led by the NIFTY Metal index's 3.22% fall. NIFTY IT, PSU Bank, Realty, Consumer Durables, Bank and Financial Services indices also fell between 1% and 2.2%.

On the flip side, pharma and healthcare shares witnessed buying interest.

Broader markets also witnessed selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 index declined 1.05% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index fell 0.5%.

Among the individual shares, Syrma SGS Technology climbed as much as 6.4% to hit a record high of ₹1,422 after the company signed a pact with another firm, Kaga Electronics, to form a joint venture focusing on production for Japanese clients, a regulatory filing said on Monday.

Syrma SGS will hold a 60% stake in the joint venture company (JVCo), with the remaining 40% held by the Indian arm of the Japanese firm Kaga Electronics.

Infosys was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 3.42% to close at ₹1,029. Wipro, TCS, Adani Enterprises, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Bharat Electronics and Jio Financial Services also declined between 2.5% and 3.2%.

On the other hand, Cipla, Power Grid, Dr Reddy's Labs, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and Shriram Finance were notable gainers in the NIFTY50 index.