Sensex tanks 456 points, Nifty ends at 18,266; PSU banks rally, IRCTC tanks over 17%

Domestic benchmark equity indices extended their downtrend for the second in a row amid heavy selling in consumption-related, realty, metals, mid & small stocks. At close, Sensex tanked 456 points or 0.74% to settle at 61,259. Whereas the Nifty 50 index shut shop at 18,266 slipping 155 points or 0.83%. "The ongoing market correction is not an overreaction and can sustain in the near-term due to high valuations. However, in the future Indian corporates will benefit from the reforms & China plus one strategy which happened during 2020-21. Alongside, the long-term economy & market trend is intact due to further re-opening of the economy, low-interest cycle and fiscal & private spending. This correction will give leeway for value-buying, defensives and upcoming stocks & sectors that evolved from this new demand," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

[caption id="attachment_90990" align="alignnone" width="795"] Top gainers and losers on the Sensex.[/caption]

Sectoral strand

Sectorally bucking the negative trend were Nifty PSU Bank index surged 1.54% while SBI hitting a record high of Rs 507.50 in today’s session. Nifty Media index also gained 1.03%. On the downside, Nifty Realty index tanked 2.16%, Nifty Metal index slipped 2.06%. While Nifty Pharma, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Auto and Nifty IT indices lost in the range of 0.70 to 1.5%. However, Nifty Bank ended with marginal losses of about 0.06% The volatility index India VIX spiked further up by 5.35% to 18.31 levels.

Broader markets

The selloff in the broader markets was much severe compared to benchmark indices. BSE MidCap index plunged 503 points or 1.91% to end below the 26,000 mark at 25,914. Likewise, the BSE SmallCap settled below the 29,000 mark at 28,878 nosediving 683 points or 2.31%. IRCTC was the biggest loser in the midcap space as it tanked 17.65% to end at Rs 4,416. In the smallcap space Mastek plummeted 14.31% to Rs 2,931 on disappointing Q2 numbers. Bears took charge of the market in today’s trade as 2,302 shares declined compared to just 1,000 advancing and 125 remained unchanged.

Global markets

Shares in Europe and Asia were mixed on Wednesday, as investors digested a slew of corporate earnings. China on Wednesday kept the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) unchanged at 3.85% while the five-year LPR was also held steady at 4.65%.