Blood bath on Dalal Street, Sensex crashes more than 1,000 points

Blood bath on Dalal Street, Sensex crashes more than 1,000 points

The Indian equities market crashed sharply on Friday, with Sensex falling more than 1,000 points due to global cues, to end the week on a negative note, dealers said.

At close, Sensex was 1,020.80 points, or 1.73 per cent, down at 58,058.92, and Nifty closed 302.45 points, or 1.72 per cent, at 17,327.35. As many as 2,497 shares declined, 983 shares advanced, and 107 remained unchanged.

The Power Grid Corporation of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, and NTPC were major losers on the Sensex.

Nifty Auto index fell 1.71 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank index fell 3.97 per cent, Nifty Financial Services index by 2.48 per cent, and BSE Utilities index by 3.48 per cent.

“With the latest round of interest rate tinkering by the US central bank, investors have turned risk averse and are dumping shares at will. Traders are also worried about the escalation in Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is prompting them to exit equities and park funds in safe haven dollar assets,” said Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President – Technical Research, Kotak Securities Ltd.

Global stocks hit two-year lows on Friday and bonds faced an eighth weekly loss, as investors digested the prospect of a far more aggressive rise in US interest rates.

Asian and European equities headed for deep weekly losses as rising interest rates across the globe threaten to sharply curtail economic growth, weighing on risk appetite and as surveys showed the downturn in business activity across the euro zone and Britain deepened this month.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. slashed its year-end target for the S&P 500 Index to 3,600 from 4,300, citing a higher interest-rate path from the Federal Reserve, while strategists gave up on a year-end rally for European stocks as private-sector activity in the region continued to contract.

After remaining resilient against the global weakness in equities, Nifty gave in over the past three sessions. Nifty fell sharply for the second consecutive week (down 1.16 per cent), breaking some key technical levels on the way.

“17166 is the next support for the Nifty post which a sharper fall could ensue. 17490 could be the resistance for the Nifty in the near term,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.