Sensex tanks over 800 points, Nifty sinks 270 points in mid-session; higher tax proposal for FPIs, HNIs in Budget weigh on investor sentiment

The BSE Sensex tanked by 817.48 points to 38,695.91 in afternoon trade on Monday led by losses in index heavyweights HDFC Bank, L&T and Bajaj Finance, amid heavy selloff in global equities.

Similarly, the broader Nifty sank too over 271 points to 11,539.75.

Earlier in the day, the Sensex had nosedived by 400 points at 39,107.72 and Nifty plunged 128 points, or 1.08 percent, to 11,683.15.

Sensex currently at 38,761.24, down by 752.15 points. NIFTY at 11,561.05, down by 250.10 points.

Top losers in the Sensex pack included Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti, L&T, NTPC, SBI, Tata Motors and Axis Bank, cracking up to 9 percent.

Representative image. Reuters

While, Yes Bank, HCL Tech, TCS, TechM, M&M and Infosys were among the gainers, rising up to 5 percent.

In the previous session, the 30-share gauge finished 394.67 points, or 0.99 percent, lower at 39,513.39, and the Nifty sank 135.60 points or 1.14 percent, to 11,811.15, after the Union Budget proposal to raise public shareholding threshold fanned fears of oversupply of new papers in an already overbought market.

According to traders, higher tax incidence proposed in the Budget for foreign portfolio investors and high net worth individuals is also weighing on investor sentiment here.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 89.38 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 275.63 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed on Friday.

Besides overhang from the Union Budget, domestic equities extended losses tracking a major selloff in global equities, traders said.

Other Asian markets opened significantly lower as hopes of steep cuts in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve faded after the world's largest economy posted better-than-expected jobs data Friday.

Shanghai Composite Index plunged 2.58 percent, Hang Seng 1.54 percent, Nikkei 0.98 percent and Kospi tumbled 2.20 percent.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated 30 paise to 68.72 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.56 percent higher at 64.58 per barrel.
— With PTI inputs