Sensex declines 474 pts, Nifty falls below 17,000 level as IT, banking stocks retreat

Mumbai, Mar 20 (PTI) Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined by nearly 1 per cent in opening trade on Monday following selling in IT banking and auto stocks triggered by weak global trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 474.96 points or 0.82 per cent to 57,514.94 as 28 of its constituents traded in the red in early session.

The broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange dropped by 139.10 points or 0.81 per cent to below the 17,000-level at 16,960.95. As many as 45 of its stocks declined led by Adani Enterprises, JSW Steel and Hindalco.

Among Sensex scrips, Mahindra & Mahindra fell the most by 1.86 per cent. Tata Steel, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS dropped more than 1 per cent. Reliance, SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank also dropped.

Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Bank bucked the trend, gaining up to 0.24 per cent.

The US banking crisis remained at the centre stage keeping the participants on their toes. Besides, the continuous outflow of foreign funds added to worries, analysts said.

Most Asian markets dropped despite coordinated efforts by global central banks to ease a fast-growing banking crisis.

Banking giant UBS is buying crisis-ridden Credit Suisse for almost USD 3.25 billion. The deal was orchestrated by regulators to avoid further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system as a plan for Credit Suisse to borrow up to USD 54 billion failed to reassure investors and the bank’s customers.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.3 per cent, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index declined 0.97 per cent and the Kospi in Seoul was down 0.39 per cent and Singapore STI dropped by 0.87 per cent. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.24 per cent.

The US markets closed lower on Friday amid fears that the banking system may be cracking under the weight of the interest rate hikes. The S&P 500 sank 1.1 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7 per cent.

On Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were the net sellers and sold Indian equities worth Rs 1,766.53 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers at Rs 1,817.14 crore.

Foreign investors have put in Rs 11,500 crore in Indian equities so far this month, mainly driven by bulk investment from the US-based GQG Partners in Adani Group companies.