Closing Bell: Sensex sinks by more than 750 points, Nifty ends below 17200

Indian markets halted the two-day winning streak and ended lower with BSE Sensex slipping below the 58,000 mark.

Domestic equity benchmark indices fell sharply and halted their two-day winning streak on Friday mainly on account of profit booking after the recent up move. During today's trading session, the Sensex tanked as much as 821 points and Nifty touched an intraday low of 17,180 dragged by losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and ITC.

At the closing bell on December 3, the Sensex was down 764.83 points or 1.31% at 57,696.46, and the Nifty was down 205 points or 1.18% at 17,196.70. On the overall market depth, around 1722 shares have advanced, 1453 shares declined, and 137 shares remain unchanged.

On a volatile trading day, the top Nifty losers include Power Grid Corporation, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints and Kotak Mahindra Bank, while the top gainers included UPL, BPCL, ONGC, IOC and L&T.

On a sectoral basis, except capital goods, all other sectoral indices ended in the red. In the broader markets, BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended on a flat note.

After opening positively, benchmark indices gave up all gains led by losses in index heavyweights and the anticipation of the RBI meet next week. Meanwhile, investors remained cautious after India reported two Omicron cases.

But, global equities traded with slight gains recovering from yesterday’s broad-based sell-off led by fears on new covid variant and also the Fed chair’s comment on the bond-buying program.
 

In other news, RBI’s monetary policy meeting will be a key market driver as investors await MPC’s policy decision which is broadly expected to hold an accommodative stance considering the uncertainty surrounding the new variant.