Sensex slumps 222 points to 35,752; Nifty falls 72 points to 10,764 amid rising India-Pak tensions; Vedanta, Tata Motors among top losers

Mumbai: Sensex slumped 221.57 points to 35,752.14 in mid-afternoon trade on widespread selling after Pakistani fighter jets violated Indian air space in Jammu and Kashmir. Nifty too fell 71.75 points to 10,763.55.  Most of the BSE sectoral indices too turned negative.

The Sensex sheds 636 points from the day’s high of 36,371.

The benchmark BSE Sensex gave up all early gains and fell over 200 points in afternoon trade on Wednesday.

After dropping 238 points, the Sensex was trading 161.74 points, or 0.46 percent, down at 35,811.97 after hitting a low of 35,735.33. The gauge rallied nearly 400 points in morning trade.

The 50-share Nifty also fell 62.55 points, or 0.58 percent, to 10,772.75.

According to brokers, investor sentiment took a beating after Pakistan claimed that it shot down two Indian military aircraft over Pakistani air space and arrested one of the pilots.

The Pakistani fighter jets on Wednesday violated Indian air space in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and Nowshera sectors.

Major losers include Vedanta, Tata Motors, HDFC, Kotak Bank, Infosys, Tata Steel, Yes Bank, Maruti Suzuki and RIL, falling up to 2.56 percent.

In opening trade, the Sensex rebounded over 256 points and the Nifty recaptured the 10,900-mark on unabated foreign capital inflows amid short covering.

Asian markets were also trading in the green ahead of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam.

--With PTI inputs