Nifty slips below 17,000; Sensex drops over 700 pts; All sectors closed in red

19 Apr 2022 , 04:48 PM

Equity benchmark indices extended their fall for the fifth straight session, dragged by heavy selling pressure in IT, financial and consumer goods stocks. Besides, weaker quarterly corporate earnings, ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, and high inflation worries dented investor sentiment.

The Nifty index attempted for a recovery in the first half of the session and it managed to surpass 17250, however, all of a sudden the index corrected sharply in the last hour of the trade and breached the 17,000 mark. The index finally ended around 16950 with a loss of over 200 points from yesterday’s close.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 704 points or 1.23 per cent to close at 56,463, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 215 points or 1.25 per cent lower to settle at 16,959. Mid- and small-cap shares finished on a weak note as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 1.37 per cent and the small-cap shed 1.66 per cent.

All sectors ended in red with Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Financial Services underperformed the index by falling as much as 2.98 per cent, 2.82 and 2.03 per cent, respectively.

HDFC Bank extended losses to a ninth session and settled down 3.8%.

HDFC was the top Nifty loser, followed by HDFC Life, SBI Life, HDFC Bank and Tata Consumer Products. Apollo Hospital, Coal India, Reliance, BPCL and ICICI Bank among top gainers on the Nifty 50 index.

India VIX added 2.27% at 19.78 levels.