Sensex, Nifty slump nearly 1% amid Middle East tensions, crude price spike

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slumped nearly 1 per cent in a topsy-turvy trading session on Friday, dragged by intense selling in FMCG, auto and energy stocks amid escalating tensions in West Asia and persistent foreign capital outflows.

Besides, a spike in global crude prices on supply uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions dented market sentiments, traders said.

Falling for the fifth day running, the BSE Sensex tumbled 808.65 points or 0.98 per cent to settle at 81,688.45. The benchmark hit a low of 81,532.68 and a high of 83,368.32 during the day, reflecting a wild swing of 1,835.64 points.

The NSE Nifty slumped 200.25 points or 0.79 per cent to 25,049.85. Intra-day, it hit a low of 24,966.80 and a high of 25,485.05.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

In contrast, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 15,243.27 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory. Markets in mainland China are closed due to a holiday.

European markets were trading higher in mid-session deals. The US markets ended lower on Thursday.

"The last three days have witnessed huge FII selling of Rs 30,614 crore in the cash market. FIIs are moving money from expensive India to cheap Hong Kong on expectations that the monetary, and fiscal stimulus being implemented by the Chinese authorities will stimulate the Chinese economy and improve the earnings of Chinese companies.

"It remains to be seen how this Chinese recovery hopes to play out," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.99 per cent to USD 78.39 a barrel.

Falling for the fourth straight session on Thursday, the BSE benchmark Sensex tumbled 1,769.19 points or 2.10 per cent to settle at 82,497.10. During the day, it plummeted 1,832.27 points or 2.17 per cent to 82,434.02.

The Nifty slumped 546.80 points or 2.12 per cent to 25,250.10.