Equity benchmark BSE Sensex cracked 324 points on Thursday on heavy selloff in auto, metal, energy and financial stocks as boiling crude prices and depreciating rupee weighed on investor sentiment.
Maruti Suzuki tumbled 2.23% after the country’s largest car maker reported a 4.6% decline in net profit to ₹1,795.6 crore for the March quarter.
After starting on a positive note, the indices succumbed to a sudden selloff in the last half-hour of trade.
The Sensex finished at 38,730.86, down by 323.82 points, or 0.83%.
The NSE Nifty too dropped below the 11,650 mark as April futures and options (F&O) contracts expired, ending 84.35 points, or 0.72%, down at 11,641.80.
Top losers in the Sensex pack included Tata Steel, Vedanta, Maruti, SBI, Coal India, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, HUL, RIL, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC duo, ICICI Bank, M&M, Kotak Bank, and Infosys, falling up to 2.89 per cent.
On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Bajaj Auto gained up to 2.08%.
According to Rahul Mishra, AVP (Derivatives), Emkay Global Financial Services, market made new highs during the month but could not sustain there due to profit-booking at higher levels.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.25%, surging past the $75 per barrel mark.
The rupee depreciated 37 paise to 70.23 against the US dollar intra-day.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equity worth ₹974.88 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of ₹657.06 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.
Elsewhere in Asia, benchmark equity indices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a mixed note. European equites too started weak.
