Sensex plunges 1,186 points in early trade Nifty tests 17,160 level

PTI, Apr 18, 2022, 10:37 AM IST

Representative Image (Source: Shutterstock)

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices, which resumed trading after a long holiday, faced heavy drubbing on Monday, with the Sensex plunging over 1,186 points in early trade.

The key index was dragged down by heavyweights Infosys and HDFC Bank amid a weak trend in Asian markets.

Stock markets were closed on Thursday for Mahavir Jayanti and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti, as well as on Friday on account of Good Friday.

The Sensex was trading 1,186.18 points lower at 57,152.75 in early trade. The Nifty tumbled 314.95 points to 17,160.70.

From the 30-share pack, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Wipro, and HCL Technologies were among the major laggards in early trade.

In contrast, NTPC, Tata Steel, M&M, Maruti, and Power Grid were among the gainers.

Shares of Infosys tanked 8.95 percent to Rs 1,592.05 on the BSE despite the country’s second-largest software services firm last week reporting a 12 percent year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at Rs 5,686 crore

HDFC Bank declined 3.35 percent to Rs 1,415.75 even as the largest domestic private sector lender Bank on Saturday posted a 22.8 percent jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 10,055.2 crore for the quarter ended March 2022.

In Asia, markets were trading lower, with Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo quoting in the red in mid-session deals.

Stocks in the US had ended lower on Thursday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 1.01 percent to USD 112.83 per barrel.

On Wednesday, the Sensex declined 237.44 points or 0.41 percent to settle at 58,338.93. The NSE Nifty dipped 54.65 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 17,475.65.

Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares worth Rs 2,061.04 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.