Indian equity benchmarks tumbled on Thursday, following a global sell-off, with the Sensex and Nifty falling over 2.60% on across-the-board selling. Continuous foreign fund outflows also continue to dampen sentiment.

The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged 1,416.30 points or 2.62% to settle at 52,792.23. During the day, it dived 1,539.02 points or 2.83% to 52,669.51.

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The broader NSE Nifty tumbled 430.90 points or 2.65% to close at 15,809.40.

All the sectoral indices closed in the red with metal, IT indices declining 4-5%. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices lost over 2% each.

Major laggards from the Sensex pack were Wipro down by 6.21%, HCL Tech down by 6.01%, Infosys down by 5.46%, TCS down by 5.17%, Tech Mahindra down by 5.07%, Tata Steel down by 4.86%, IndusInd Bank down by 4.04%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.39% and Bajaj Finserv down by 2.74%.

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Among the gainers were ITC up by 3.43%, Dr Reddy’s Labs up by 0.82% and Power Grid Corp up by 0.29%.

The rupee extended its losses and declined 10 paise to settle at a record low of 77.72 against the US dollar.

In Asian markets, except Shanghai, all others ended lower including Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

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European stock exchanges were also trading sharply lower in the afternoon session.

US stock markets had ended deep in the red on Wednesday.

“US markets saw the worst sell-off since June 2020 as inflation fear looms,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities.

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Brent crude, the international oil benchmark declined 1.29% to USD 107.7 per barrel.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth a net Rs 1,254.64 crore on Wednesday.

“Deteriorating macro sentiments such as soaring inflation, recession fears, and the prospect of the Federal Reserve getting even more hawkish will continue to keep benchmarks on the edge.

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“Another main reason for the pessimism can be attributed to relentless selling from the FII camp,” said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head of Research, HDFC Securities, said, “Indian markets tumbled more than 2.5% on weekly derivative expiry day on weak global cues.”