Sensex slumps 566 points; banking, IT stocks dip

Mumbai (Maharashtra): The Indian equities markets benchmark Sensex slumped 566 points on Wednesday, dragged by heavy selling pressure in IT and banking stocks.

HDFC Bank and HDFC slumped for the second straight day after the announcement of merger deals. The share price of HDFC Bank and HDFC had surged by around 10 per cent on Monday shortly after the merger deals were announced.

However, scrip has declined sharply in the past two days on profit booking. HDFC Bank slumped 3.51 per cent to Rs 1550.80. HDFC tumbled 3.26 per cent to Rs 2536.50.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex closed 566.09 points or 0.94 per cent down at 59,610.41 points against its previous day’s close at 60,176.50 points.

Earlier, the Sensex started the day in the red at 59,815.71 points and slumped to a low of 59,509.84 points in the intra-day.

The Sensex had lost 435.24 points or 0.72 per cent on Tuesday.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange dipped 149.75 points or 0.83 per cent to 17,807.65 points. The Nifty had lost 96 points or 0.53 per cent on Tuesday.

There was heavy selling pressure in IT stocks. HCL Technologies slumped 2.07 per cent to Rs 1170.80. Tech Mahindra dipped 1.97 per cent to Rs 1459.50. Infosys fell 1.75 per cent to Rs 1828.45. TCS fell 1.52 per cent to Rs 3756.15.

The index heavyweight Reliance Industries closed 0.23 per cent down at Rs 2619.35.

However, there was good buying support in power and metal stocks. NTPC jumped 2.61 per cent to Rs 153.05. Tata Steel soared 1.94 per cent to Rs 1371. Power Grid Corporation rose 1.52 per cent to Rs 236.60. Bharti Airtel, Nestle India, L&T, State Bank of India and Asian Paints were among the major Sensex gainers.