Markets pare early gains; Sensex tanks 779 points, Nifty falls from record peak

Mumbai, May 3 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices pared all early gains and were trading lower in mid-session on Friday, with the Sensex tumbling 779.69 points and the Nifty falling from its lifetime peak, amid profit-taking and decline in the shares of blue-chip Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 779.69 points to 73,831.42 in the afternoon trade after soaring 484.07 points earlier in the day. From its intra-day high of 75,095.18, the benchmark tanked 1,263.76 points to the day’s low of 73,831.42.

The NSE Nifty also declined 193.4 points to 22,454.80. The benchmark hit a record peak of 22,794.70 in the early trade.

From the Sensex basket, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Maruti, Asian Paints, Larsen & Toubro and Nestle were among the major laggards.

Bajaj Finance traded over 1 per cent higher, while Bajaj Finserv also climbed more than 1 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted restrictions on Bajaj Finance on sanctioning and disbursal of loans through eCOM and Insta EMI Card, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

In November last year, the central bank had directed Bajaj Finance to stop sanction and disbursal of loans under its two lending products — eCOM and Insta EMI Card — due to the company’s non-adherence to the extant provisions of digital lending guidelines.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong traded in the positive territory while Seoul and Shanghai quoted lower.

Wall Street ended with gains on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.27 per cent to USD 83.90 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 964.47 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark climbed 128.33 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 74,611.11 on Thursday. The NSE Nifty went up by 43.35 points or 0.19 per cent to 22,648.20.