Sensex dives 704 points on fag-end sell-off; Nifty ends below 17k

Mumbai, April 19

Markets went into a tailspin during fag-end of the trade on Tuesday, with the Sensex closing 703.59 points lower as weakness in HDFC twins and Infosys continued to dent sentiments.

Concerns over rising inflation and foreign fund outflows in the wake of the uncertain geopolitical situation also sapped investor confidence.

In a highly volatile trade, the Sensex finished 703.59 points or 1.23 per cent lower at 56,463.15 as fag-end selling emerged. In choppy trade, the benchmark hit a high of 57,464.08 and a low of 56,009.07 during the day.

The NSE Nifty declined 215 points or 1.25 per cent to settle at 16,958.65.

Both the indices closed in the red for the fifth straight session.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ITC, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies were among the major laggards.

In contrast, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Bajaj Finance were the gainers.

In Asia, markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower, while Seoul and Tokyo were up.

Markets in Europe were also trading lower in the afternoon session.

Stocks in the US had ended marginally lower on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.39 per cent to USD 111.6 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree, offloading shares worth a net Rs 6,387.45 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. PTI