Sensex, Nifty tank over 1% on losses in HDFC twins

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined more than 1 per cent at close on Friday due to a heavy sell-off in index major HDFC twins after reports that their merger could lead to outflows of $150-200 million.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 694.96 points or 1.13 per cent to settle at 61,054.29 as 20 of its components declined and 10 advanced.

During the day, it plunged 747.08 points or 1.20 per cent to 61,002.17.

The broader NSE Nifty fell 186.80 points or 1.02 per cent to end at 18,069 with 30 of its constituents declining and 19 closing with gains.

Among the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank tumbled 5.80 per cent followed by HDFC which plummeted 5.57 per cent. Both the stocks fell sharply amid reports that the merged HDFC entity could see significant outflows.

"The Indian market was dragged down by heavy selling in HDFC twins on fears of post-merger fund outflow. In addition, the cues from global peers were lacklustre as the ECB raised rates by 25 bps and signalled the need for further rate hikes.

"Wall Street has witnessed prolonged selling pressure due to apprehensions in the banking sector about the strength of regional banks," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro and NTPC were the other major laggards.

Titan, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, Nestle, ITC and Larsen & Toubro were among the gainers.

"Nifty opened lower and saw some profit-booking amid volatility.

"HDFC twins were major losers today, dragging benchmark and banking indices down.

"The majority of the sectors ended in the red," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.50 per cent, while the smallcap index dipped 0.39 per cent.

Among indices, financial services fell 2.28 per cent and bankex by 1.87 per cent. Metal (1.55 per cent), commodities (0.63 per cent), teck (0.59 per cent), IT (0.58 per cent) and telecommunication (0.34 per cent) also declined.

Consumer durables, consumer discretionary, FMCG, industrials and capital goods were the gainers.

"Markets were under a bear hug on the back of massive profit-taking amid sell-off in HDFC twins, US banking woes and weak Wall Street cues.

"The negative takeaway was that Nifty Bank tumbled 2.3 per cent on reports that merger of HDFC twins may result in slight outflows of $150 to 200 million," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

In Asian markets, Shanghai ended lower, while Hong Kong settled in the green. European equity markets were trading higher.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Thursday also as they bought equities worth Rs 1,414.73 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.59 per cent to $73.65 per barrel.

Forex markets were closed for Buddha Poornima.