Sharp sell-off on Dalal Street: Sensex plunges 906 points, Nifty slips below 22,000

Indian equities saw sharp sell-off on Wednesday. Both the Sensex and the Nifty slipped almost a percent and a half each, as US rate cut delay concerns weighed on investor sentiment.

The Sensex declined over 900 points to close below 73,000 and the Nifty slipped over 300 points to end the session under 22,000.

The market breadth was also negative, with more than 3,500 stocks declining against just 400 advancing. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty realty, metal, and media declined over 6% each. Nifty Small Cap declined 5%, while Nifty Midcap 100 was down 4.4%.

Benchmark indices started the session on a positive note, but the selling intensified during afternoon trade, with all sectoral indices ending in the red.

The 30-share index tanked 906.07 points or 1.23 per cent to settle at 72,761.89. During the day, it dropped 1,152.25 points or 1.56 per cent to 72,515.71.

The Nifty plummeted 338 points or 1.51 per cent to 21,997.70.

Power Grid was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, sliding over 7 per cent, followed by NTPC, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever.

In contrast, ITC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank were the gainers.

"In contrast to the global uptrend, the unfavourable risk-reward balance of mid and smallcap stocks, fuelled by prolonged premium valuations, has aggravated the downfall. Meanwhile, FMCG and contrarian plays like gold are offering some refuge. Other than the premium valuation no fundamental issue is noticed to drawback the long-term growth image of domestic midcaps," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge tanked by 5.11 per cent, while the midcap index declined by 4.20 per cent.

In Asian markets, Seoul settled in the green, while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading mostly in the green. The US markets ended with significant gains on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 73.12 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.09 per cent to USD 82.81 a barrel.