Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty 50 and Sensex fell sharply in the second half of the day, retreating from all-time highs registered earlier in the day, on Wednesday, December 20.
After opening in record highs, market benchmark indices plunged into deep red today (Wednesday). The BSE Sensex declined 920 points to 70,515, with the Nifty losing 303 points to 21,150.15 when market closed at 3;30. The sharp decline seen in mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The Nifty small-cap 100 recorded a percent change of 2.07%, while the Nifty mid-cap 100 experienced a change of 1.31%. A total of 3,900 stocks were traded on the BSE, of which, 2758 advanced, while 3,045 declined and 97 stocks remained unchanged. As many as 348 stocks hit a 52 week high and 24 stocks hit a 52 week low at 3 PM
In the broader market at the BSE, the Mid-cap index plunged 3.1 percent while the Small-cap index tumbled 3.4 percent.
In the Sensex index, which is a pack of 30 companies, shares of all companies closed in the red except HDFC Bank which ended marginally high. Tata Steel tumbled 4.2 percent and NTPC plunged 3.8 percent. Tata Motors lost 3.3 percent and HCL Tech fell 3.2 percent.
In sectoral indices at the BSE, all 20 sectors logged losses. The utilities sector cracked 4.6 percent and the Telecommunication index declined 4.4 percent. The Power sector fell 4.3 percent and the Services index 4.2 percent.
The overall market breadth was negative, as the shares of 3,177 companies declined while those of 658 appreciated. A total of 86 companies remained unchanged.