Benchmark equity index Sensex slumped 268 points on Wednesday, dragged by losses in ITC, HDFC, L&T and ICICI Bank as investors remained wary of an economic slowdown.
After plunging 305 points, the 30-share Sensex settled 267.64 points, or 0.72 per cent, lower at 37,060.37. It hit an intra-day high of 37,406.55 and a low of 37,022.52.
The broader NSE Nifty too ended 98.30 points, or 0.89 per cent, down at 10,918.70. During the day, it swung between a high of 11,034.20 and a low of 10,906.65.
Tata Motors was the biggest laggard in the Sensex pack, plummeting 9.29 per cent, followed by Yes Bank at 8.21 per cent. Other losers included Tata Steel, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, SBI, L&T, ITC, Vedanta, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank and M&M, which declined up to 4.26 per cent.
Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HUL, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, NTPC and HDFC Bank bucked the weak market trend, rising up to 1.78 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated 22 paise to 71.49 against the US dollar intra-day.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, spurted 1.28 per cent to USD 60.80 per barrel.
Asian markets drop as traders await Powell speech
Equities stuttered in Asia on Wednesday as investors took a step back after recent gains, with focus now turning to a key speech by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell at the end of the week.
Rising hopes for China-US trade talks have provided a much-needed lift to markets over the past two days but with few fresh catalysts, dealers are keeping their powder dry ahead of Friday’s address.
After positive signals from Donald Trump and some of his top advisers on Monday over progress in the talks with Beijing, and an olive branch with the delay of a ban on Huawei purchases, there have been few developments for traders to buy on.
“Our trade-war headline-inspired relief rally appears to have run its course as I suspect there is still a lot of nervousness among US investors as the global economic realities are just too hard to ignore,” said Stephen Innes at Valour Markets.
Hong Kong added 0.2 per cent, Shanghai was barely moved and Tokyo ended down 0.3 per cent. Sydney fell almost one percent, Singapore shed 0.3 per cent and Wellington was 0.9 per cent lower. Taipei finished flat and Seoul added 0.2 per cent.
In early trade, London rose 0.5 per cent, Paris added 0.8 percent and Frankfurt was up 0.5 per cent.
The Fed releases minutes of its July meeting later on Wednesday which will provide an insight into its deliberations when cutting interest rates for the first time since the financial crisis.
But Powell’s talk at the central bankers’ gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is the key event and will be closely pored over for clues about the bank’s plans for next month, with experts unable to agree on whether or not he will announce further cuts.
There has been increased speculation that central banks and governments will step in with stimulus support to head off a global downturn, but analysts warn they could be disappointed by what Powell has to say regarding Fed action.
