Market Wrap: Sensex plunges 1,313 pts from record high on profit booking

Benchmark indices tumbled over 1,000 points from its intraday high as investors booked profits at higher levels that saw Sensex and Nifty hitting 40,000 and 12,000 levels, respectively, over optimism surrounding the National Democratic Alliance (NDA's) likely return to power after the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The S&P BSE Sensex hit the 40,000 mark on Thursday, after trends showed Narendra Modi - led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) sweeping to power in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. While most experts had predicted Modi-led NDA to come back to power for the second consecutive term, markets, they said, had been discounting this. 

The S&P BSE Sensex slipped almost 299 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 38,811 levels, with Vedanta Limited, ITC, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, leading the list of losers. Out of the 30 BSE constituents, 16 ended in the red. The broader Nifty50 index dipped 0.7 per cent to end the day at 11,657 levels.

Sectorally, all the indices on NSE, except Nifty Media and Realty, settled lower at the day's end, with Nifty FMCG bleeding the most 1.7 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal 1.48 per cent. The Nifty Bank index, which hit 31,000-level earlier in the day, dipped 118 points to 30,409 levels.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index dropped 21 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 14,650 levels, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index concluded the day 16 points, or 0.11 per cent, lower at 14,353 levels.

BUZZING STOCKS

IndusInd Bank shares surged 8 per cent to Rs 1,640 in early trade on Thursday on the BSE before ending the day 5 per cent higher on expectation that the bank would return to normalcy in terms of earnings momentum after the entire exposure to IL&FS was classified as non-performing asset (NPA) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018-19 (Q4FY19). 

Shares of Adani Group companies surged up to 14 per cent intra-day on the BSE on Thursday as trends showed the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leading the vote counts for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.