NEW DELHI:Indian stock markets continued their heedless plunge for the sixth straight session on Wednesday, with the benchmark BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty indices recording a 0.85 per cent and 0.93 per cent drop respectively.According to analysts, the steadily widening probe into the Punjab National Bank scam and unabated global trade war fears both acted as major vectors for investor uncertainty.
The last two weeks have seen what little gains the markets had accrued after the post-budget correction, with the Nifty index recording a four per cent decline since February 26. In fact, the Nifty has contracted by 8.77 per cent since January 29, when it hit a peak of 11,130.40 points.On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex plunged over 284.11 points to close at a three-month low of 33,033.09, while the broader Nifty shed 95.05 points to end at 10,154.20 points. The index has now lost 1,412.66 points in six consecutive sessions.
“Weak global cues due to escalating trade war concerns and widening probe into PSU banks led the domestic market to underperform.
“From its recent high, the market declined by 9 per cent as investor sentiment got hurt by domestic and global headwinds. Consolidation in bond yield and ease in global market volatility is likely to provide some leeway to the current negative sentiment,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.The primary losers at the markets on the day were banking sector stocks, which suffered losses of up to 3.84 per cent, led by banks like SBI, PNB, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Bank of Baroda, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank. In fact, all sectoral indices, barring FMCG and consumer durables, ended in the red.The S&P BSE Bankex index, which tracks banking sector scrips, tanked by 381.31 points (-1.38 per cent) to end the day at 27170.13.