Sensex falls over 1100 points while Nifty around 17,160 in early trade

The Sensex plunged by 1,186 points in early trade as equity benchmark indices resumed trading after a long break.

Heavyweights Infosys and HDFC Bank drove down the major index, which was dragged down by a negative trend in Asian markets.

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The stock exchanges were closed on Thursday for Mahavir Jayanti and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti, as well as Good Friday.

In early trade, the Sensex was trading 1,186.18 points lower at 57,152.75. The Nifty fell 314.95 points to 17,160.70 points.

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Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Wipro, and HCL Technologies were among the early laggards in the 30-share pack. On the other hand, NTPC, Tata Steel, M&M, Maruti and Power Grid were among the gainers.

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Despite the country’s second-largest software services provider last week reporting a 12% year-on-year growth in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at Rs 5,686 crore, Infosys shares fell 8.95% to Rs 1,592.05 on the BSE. 

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HDFC Bank’s stock fell 3.35% to Rs 1,415.75 despite the fact that the largest domestic private sector lender reported a 22.8% increase in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 2022, to Rs 10,055.2 crore.

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Markets in Asia were trading down in mid-session trades, with Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo quoted in the red. Stocks in the United States finished lower on Thursday.

The Sensex dropped 237.44 points, or 0.41%, to 58,338.93 on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty finished at 17,475.65, down 54.65 points or 0.31%.

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According to market data, foreign institutional investors continued to sell shares worth Rs 2,061.04 crore on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, rose 1.01% to USD 112.83 per barrel. The rupee slumps 24 paise to 76.43 against the US dollar in early trade.