Nifty cracks 7,800 mark on Fed rate hike fear; tanks 87 pts

Indian markets succumbed to more aggressive selling, with Nifty losing 87 points as investor sentiment soured on mounting global economic jitters and possibility of imminent Fed rate hike even the focus remained on worsening earnings outlook.
The massive unwinding sent the bellwether Nifty index crashing by a whopping 87 points, or 1.10 per cent, to close below 7,800 mark on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
All sectoral indices saw marked fall with financials taking the lead alongwith infra, metal, FMCG and energy. stocks.
Growing worries over tightening P-notes rules and a steep fall in rupee also weighed on trade.
The much awaited minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's April meeting, which were released on Wednesday said it would be appropriate to raise interest rates in June with global worries subsiding, the US economy appears to be picking up some steam in the spring.

After a modest positive start buoyed by BJP's electoral victory in Assam for the first time and the party making inroads into Kerala and West Bengal, bourses suddenly turned highly volatile.

Breaking the key 7,800 support level, however triggered panic selling in late afternoon trade prompting traders in investors to dump stocks, underlining a deepening downtrend for a while.
Meanwhile, Sebi chief U K Sinha has said the regulator is in discussions with the industry on tightening Know Your Client mechanism for Participatory Notes (P-Notes) and will take a final decision soon.
Elsewhere, barring Nikkei most regional markets ended marginally lower.

The 50-share index opened a tad higher at 7,875.50 and oscillated between 7,876.20 and 7,766.80 before finishing at 7,783.40, registering a sharp loss of 86.75 points, or 1.10 per cent, over its last close.
On the sectoral front, PSU bank indices suffered the worst, plunging 3.76 per cent. It was followed by Infra (1.87 per cent), Media (1.79 per cent), FMCG (1.76 per cent), Metal (1.60 per cent), Energy (1.21 per cent), Nifty Bank (0.98 per cent), Auto (0.50 per cent) and IT (0.23 per cent).
The mid-cap and small-cap tumbled 1.21 and 1.19 per cent, respectively.
Among the biggest index losers included HDFC, ITC, L&T, Reliance, SBI, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Eicher Motors, IDEA, ONGC, Infosys, HUL, Bharti Artel, M&M, Cipla, HCL-Tech, Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank.

The key gainers were Tata Motors, Lupin, TCS, Power Grid, BPCL and Wipro.
Turnover in cash segment rose to Rs 16,693.53 crore compared to Rs 15,703.18 crore on Wednesday.
A total of 9,056.58 lakh shares changed hands in 72,14,043 trades. The market capitalisation of the NSE stood at Rs 94,47,276 crore.