Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply by nearly 2% each, extending their losses for the third straight day on Friday, amid an overall bearish trend in global markets. Market participants felt that an aggressive rate hike by US Federal Reserve and a slowing Chinese economy could weigh on global economic growth.

Traders were cautious with ASSOCHAM’s statement that India Inc is bracing itself for yet another policy rate hike by the RBI Monetary Policy Committee in the range of 35-50 basis points as the move seems unavoidable in the wake of the global monetary tightening to limit the impact of inflation.

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The Sensex tanked 1,020.80 points or 1.73% to settle at 58,098.92. During the day, it tumbled 1,137.77 points or 1.92% to 57,981.95. The NSE Nifty plummeted 302.45 points or 1.72% to close at 17,327.35.

The broader indices ended red with the BSE Mid cap index declining 2.28% and the Small cap index down by 1.92%. The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities down by 3.48%, Power down by 3.40%, Realty down by 2.97%, PSU down by 2.95%, Bankex down by 2.50%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

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Major laggards from the Sensex pack were Power Grid Corp down by 7.93%, Mahindra & Mahindra 3%, State Bank of India 2.99%, Bajaj Finserv 2.80%, Bajaj Finance 2.73%, NTPC 2.73%, HDFC 2.72%, IndusInd Bank 2.67%, HDFC Bank 2.64% and Axis Bank 2.55%.

The few gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.31%, ITC up by 0.78%, and Tata Steel up by 0.68%.

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The rupee plunged by 83 paise, its biggest single-day loss in nearly seven months to close at an all-time low of 80.79 against the US dollar after the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike and its hawkish stance weighed on investor sentiments.

Asian markets ended mostly lower with the Shanghai Composite down by 0.66%, the Hang Seng down by 1.18%, and the KOSPI Composite down by 1.81%.

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European markets were trading in the red in mid-session deals. The US stock markets ended in negative territory on Thursday.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark declined 1.87% to $88.77 per barrel.

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According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,509.55 crore on Thursday.