Market benchmark BSE Sensex cracked about 354 points on Wednesday, led by a sudden sell-off in HDFC and HDFC Bank in the later half of the session.
The 30-share Sensex index lost 353.87 points, or 0.91%, to close at 38,585.35; the broader NSE Nifty dropped 87.65 points, or 0.75%, to 11,584.30.
HDFC Bank lost 2.07%, while HDFC slumped 1.96%. The HDFC duo collectively accounted for almost half of the Sensex’s 354-point loss.
Other top losers in the Sensex pack included Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, TCS, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Hero MotoCorp, declining up to 3.28%.
While, Tata Motors, HUL, Kotak Bank, Coal India, Sun Pharma, M&M, Bajaj Auto and ONGC were the gainers, rising up to 4.68%.
According to traders, market sentiment turned weak after the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its World Economic Outlook (WEO), once again downgraded global growth forecast to 3.3% for 2019.
The quarterly report “projects a slowdown in growth in 2019 for 70% of the world economy,” IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said in a statement.
India is projected to grow at 7.3% in 2019 and 7.5% in 2020, reflecting the recent revision to the national account statistics that indicated somewhat softer underlying momentum, the report said.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equity worth ₹1,212.35 crore on April 9, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of ₹688.65 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Japan, China and Korea ended on a mixed note.
In Europe, bourses in Germany, France and U.K. were trading in the positive terrain in early deals.
The benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.67% to $71.08 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 12 paise to 69.18 against the U.S. dollar intra-day.