Sensex down more than 600 points from intraday high, Nifty below 17,200; Pharma, Media Shares Worst Hits

Indian stock benchmarks erased intraday gains in midday trades before index futures and options expire weekly at the end of the day with Sensex down as much as 614 points from its highs. intraday and the Nifty 50 index dipped below the psychologically important level of 17,200. Index heavyweights such as ICICI Bank, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma and State Bank of India were among the most pulled on Sensex. However, the downside is limited due to buying interest in Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank.

As of 12:38 pm, the Sensex is down 5 points to 57,783 and the Nifty 50 index is down 5 points to 17,216.

Volatility spiked in afternoon trades as traders weighed their index derivatives contracts ahead of their weekly expiration at the end of the day, analysts said. said.

Selling pressure was widespread as 13 of 15 industry gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange traded lower as the Nifty Media index fell more than 2%. Indexes of Nifty Healthcare, Private Bank, PSU Bank, Pharma, FMCG, Auto and Bank also fell between 0.5-1.2%.

On the other hand, IT stock is seeing buying interest from the country’s second largest IT company – Infosys.

Small- and mid-cap stocks were also under selling pressure as the Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.75% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 1.13%.

Eicher Motors was the biggest loser in Nifty, shares falling 2% to Rs 2,444. Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, Hindalco, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Tata Consumer Products, UPL, ICICI Bank and Power Grid also fell from 1-1.8%.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Grasim Industries, Wipro, Bharat Petroleum, Coal India, Mahindra & Mahindra and ONGC were among the gainers.

Market breadth was extremely negative with 1,933 shares falling while 1,329 shares gained on the BSE.