Markets reel amid global selloff; banking, finance stocks bear the brunt

The Sensex crashed 634 points while the Nifty closed below the 11,350-level on Friday as investors pressed the panic button after a tech-led rout on Wall Street.

Reliance Industries, banking and finance stocks accounted for the bulk of the losses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on the backfoot and remained in the negative territory throughout the session. It finally finished at 38,357.18, down 633.76 points or 1.63 per cent.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty plunged 193.60 points or 1.68 per cent to close at 11,333.85.

Barring Maruti, which spurted 1.70 per cent, all Sensex stocks ended in the red.

Axis Bank was the biggest loser, declining 4.07 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, SBI, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, ITC, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Titan and HDFC.

According to traders, domestic benchmark indices followed the massive selloff in global equities.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended with heavy losses in the overnight session led by a carnage in technology stocks.

The Nasdaq slumped almost 5 per cent a day after it and the S&P 500 posted record closing highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 807.77 points, or 2.78 per cent.

Following suit, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended up to 1.25 per cent lower.

On the other hand, stock exchanges in Europe opened on a positive note.

Meanwhile, on a weekly basis, the Sensex plummeted 1,110.13 points or 2.81 per cent, while the Nifty lost 313.75 points or 2.69 per cent.

Through the week, the market remained cautious on weaker-than-expected GDP number and lacklustre GST collections even though PMI and auto sales showed some improvement, said Sanjeev Zarbade, VP PCG Research, Kotak Securities.

"FPIs bought equities worth USD 184 million over the past five trading sessions while DIIs sold USD 287 million worth of equities in the same period," he said.

Indo-China border tensions, rising cases of infections, global market correction and valuations are the key risks to the domestic market, he added.

All sectoral indices closed with losses on Friday, with BSE metal, power, telecom, realty, bankex and utilities indices falling up to 2.99 per cent.

Broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices tanked up to 1.74 per cent.

In the forex market, the rupee appreciated 33 paise to close at 73.14 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.91 per cent higher at USD 44.47 per barrel.