INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
On BSE, the overall market breadth was weak as 723 shares were advancing while 1,882 were declining.New Delhi: The Indian equity indices
plunged on Friday led by sell-off in all sectors amid weak global cues
As of 9:26 am, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 780 points or 1.32 per cent to 58,146; while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 218 points or 1.24
per cent to 17,388.Asian share markets fell on Friday, after red-hot United States inflation data and hawkish comments from a Federal
Reserve official fuelled bets on United States interest rates being hiked more aggressively and sent United States Treasury yields jumping
Broader moves across Asian stocks followed United States data which showed consumer prices surged 7.5 per cent in January on a
year-over-year basis, marking the biggest annual increase in inflation in 40 years.Sentiment further soured after St
Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said the data had made him "dramatically" more hawkish
Bullard, a voting member of the Fed's rate-setting committee this year, said he now wanted a full percentage point of interest rate hikes
by July 1.Overnight, United States markets had sold off more aggressively
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.47 per cent, the S-P 500 lost 1.81 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.1 per cent.Back
home, mid- and small-cap shares traded on a negative note as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.63 per cent and small-cap shares moved 0.61 per
cent lower.On the stock-specific front, Tech Mahindra was the top Nifty gainer as the stock cracked 2.86 per cent to Rs 1,426.55
Infosys, Wipro, Bajaj Finance and HCL Tech were also among the laggards.In contrast, BPCL, IOC, ONGC, Hindalco and Coal India were among the
gainers.On BSE, the overall market breadth was weak as 723 shares were advancing while 1,882 were declining.On the 30-share BSE platform,
TechM, Infosys, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, Dr Reddy's and HCL Tech attracted the most losses with their shares sliding as much as 2.81
per cent.Sensex had surged 460 points or 0.79 per cent to settle at 58,926 on Thursday, while Nifty had moved 142 points or 0.81 per cent
higher to close at 17,606.Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept key rates unchanged to support economic growth
The central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) held the lending rate, or the repo rate, at 4 per cent and the reverse repo rate, or
the key borrowing rate, at 3.35 per cent.
