Sensex Slumps Over 750 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,400; Tech Mahindra, Infosys Top Drags
NDTV
The Indian equity indices plunged on Friday led by sell-off in all sectors amid weak global cues.
New Delhi: The Indian equity indices plunged on Friday led by sell-off in all sectors amid weak global cues. As of 9:26 am, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 780 points or 1.32 per cent to 58,146; while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 218 points or 1.24 per cent to 17,388.
Asian share markets fell on Friday, after red-hot U.S. inflation data and hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official fuelled bets on U.S. interest rates being hiked more aggressively and sent U.S. Treasury yields jumping. Broader moves across Asian stocks followed U.S. data which showed consumer prices surged 7.5 per cent in January on a year-over-year basis, marking the biggest annual increase in inflation in 40 years.
Sentiment further soured after St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said the data had made him "dramatically" more hawkish. Bullard, a voting member of the Fed's rate-setting committee this year, said he now wanted a full percentage point of interest rate hikes by July 1.
Overnight, U.S. markets had sold off more aggressively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.47 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 1.81 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.1 per cent.
