Sensex crashes over 1,400 points to end at 52,792; Nifty closes below 16,000

Equity benchmarks fell sharply on Thursday, mirroring a sell-off in global markets, with the Sensex and Nifty tumbling over 2.60 per cent on across-the-board selling.Persistent foreign fund outflows also continue to dampen sentiment.The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex dived 1,416.30 points or 2.61 per cent to settle at 52,792.23. During the day, it tumbled 1,539.02 points or 2.83 per cent to 52,669.51.The broader NSE Nifty tanked 430.90 points or 2.65 per cent to end at 15,809.40.From the Sensex firms, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major laggards.ITC and Dr Reddy’s emerged as the gainers.Barring Shanghai, other Asian markets ended lower, with Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo settling in the red.Equity exchanges in Europe were also trading sharply lower in the afternoon session.Stock markets in the US had ended deep in the red on Wednesday.”US markets saw the worst sell-off since June 2020 as inflation fear looms,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities.Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.29 per cent to USD 107.7 per barrel.Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net ₹1,254.64 crore on Wednesday, as per stock exchange data.”Deteriorating macro sentiments such as soaring inflation, recession fears, and the prospect of the Federal Reserve getting even more hawkish will continue to keep benchmarks on the edge.”Another main reason for the pessimism can be attributed to relentless selling from the FII camp,” said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head of Research, HDFC Securities, said, “Indian markets tumbled more than 2.5 per cent on weekly derivative expiry day on weak global cues.”