Kamal Ghorui
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended sharply lower on Friday as escalating conflict in West Asia and rising crude oil prices weighed heavily on investor sentiment. Weak global cues, persistent foreign fund outflows and rupee weakness further added to the pressure on domestic markets.Declining for the third straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged as much as 1,579.82 points, or 2 per cent, during intra-day trade before settling at 74,563.92, down 1,470.50 points, or 1.93 per cent.The broader NSE Nifty also tanked 488.05 points, or 2.06 per cent, to close at 23,151.10.Here are the top gainers and losers of the day:
Nifty 50 top gainers
- Tata Consumer (+2.44%)
- HUL (+1.09%)
- Bharti Airtel (+0.12%)
Nifty 50 top losers
- L&T (-7.55%)
- Hindalco (-6.16%)
- Tata Steel (-5.15%)
- JSW Steel (-4.55%)
- UltraTech Cement (-4.27%)
- Grasim Industries (-3.91%)
- SBI (-3.53%)
- Eicher Motors (-3.37%)
- M&M (-3.31%)
- Maruti Suzuki (-3.23%)
BSE Sensex top gainers
- HUL (+1.09%)
- Bharti Airtel (+0.12%)
BSE Sensex top losers
- L&T (-7.55%)
- Tata Steel (-5.15%)
- UltraTech Cement (-4.27%)
- SBI (-3.53%)
- M&M (-3.31%)
- Maruti Suzuki (-3.23%)
- BEL (-3.12%)
- Axis Bank (-3.02%)
- Kwality Wall’s (-2.82%)
- Eternal (-2.49%)
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.25 per cent to USD 100.7 per barrel, adding to worries over inflationary pressures and global growth prospects.Asian markets ended broadly lower, with South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closing in the red. European markets were also trading with losses.In the US, markets ended sharply lower on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.78 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.56 per cent and the S&P 500 declined 1.52 per cent.Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 7,049.87 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 7,449.77 crore, according to exchange data.On Thursday, the Sensex had fallen 829.29 points, or 1.08 per cent, to close at 76,034.42. The Nifty had declined 227.70 points, or 0.95 per cent, to settle at 23,639.15.
