Markets Update: Nifty, Sensex down half per cent each; auto, tech shares drag

1.30 PM: Benchmark indices were trading lower as Nifty and Sensex were both down over half per cent in the afternoon trade amid weaker global cues on Thursday. Nifty was trading at 17,776, down 123 points or 0.69%, while S&P BSE Sensex declined 350 points or 0.58% to 59,658 on the last trading day of the holiday-shortened week. SBI, IOC, Power Grid were Nifty50 toppers, while Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra declined the most on the index. Nifty Bank continued to trade above 38,000-mark at 38,071.90, led by PNB Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank.  

Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty50 and S&P BSE Sensex opened flat on Thursday. The former opened flat with negative bias, while the latter gained 50 points soon after opening to go past 60,000. The two indices Nifty and Sensex opened at 17,890.55 and 59,968.75, respectively.

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The banking index Nifty Bank opened above 38,000-mark at 38,071.90.

Hindalco, Shree Cement, Power Grid, ITC and SBI were top gainers on the Nifty 50 and Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti and ONGC dragged the index the most.

Earlier in the preopen, the Sensex slids below 60,000 to open at 59,968.75, while the Nifty marginally gained from previous closing to open at 17,939.35.

On Thursday morning, Asian stock markets largely traded negative. Nikke 225 was trading 140 points down at 29,549, Hang Sang index shed 280 points to 25,376 and Shanghai Composite index was also down by 13 points to 3,524 around 7.15 am on Thursday.

Also, the Wall Street indices, Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500, closed with a loss of 0.26% to 0.58% on Wednesday. Dow Jones closed 211 points lower to 35,931, Nasdaq composite lost 52 points to 15,921 and S&P 500 declined 12 points to 4,689.

Earlier, domestic equity benchmarks also shed more than half a per cent on Wednesday amid negative global cues. The Nifty50 shed 101 points or 0.56% to close at 17,899, while the S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 314 points to 60,008 on Wednesday. Reliance Industries and banking shares dragged the indices the most on Wednesday.

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