Sensex drops 652 points, Nifty near 17,750 as growth concerns weigh; banks sink

Equity markets cracked, while bond yields on the 10-year government securities firmed up, in the second half of the trading session on Friday as growth concerns weighed on investor sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex crashed 937 points from the day’s high and hit a low of 59,474 during the day. It, eventually, closed at 59,646, down 652 points or 1.08 per cent.

The NSE Nifty50, meanwhile, touched an intra-day low of 17,710 before settling 198 points, or 1.1 per cent, lower at 17,758.

The broad-based sell-off was led by financials including IndusInd Bank (down 4 per cent), Bajaj twins, SBI, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, and HDFC duo. That apart, Tata Steel, NTPC, HUL, Maruti Suzuki, RIL, and M&M were the other heavyweight losers. The only Sensex gainers were L&T, Infosys, and TCS.

Sectorally, the BSE Metal index shed 1.8 per cent, the BSE Bankex index 1.7 per cent, and the BSE PSU index 1.6 per cent

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 1.27 per cent and 0.93 per cent respectively.

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) jumped to a high of Rs 752.80, up 5.5 per cent in intra-day trade on Friday as the company announced plans to monetise its passenger data bank.

Shares of Tata Chemicals hit a new high as the price has surged 38% in one month on healthy outlook. An anticipated reduction in imports and the ongoing programs on driving cost reductions and efficiencies will likely yield benefits in margins.

Power Mech hits new high on order win from Adani Group; jumps over 8%. The company said it bagged an order worth Rs 6,163.2 crore for five flue gas desulphurization [FGD] projects from the Adani Group.

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