Nifty down 19550 after last hour's sell-off: 610 point gap in Sensex

Ahmedabad: The market has been under pressure for the past few days and the selling trend by foreign institutional investors has continued. Indian equity market retreated sharply on the back of rally in crude prices, close of F&O and a sharp sell-off in the last hour on weak global cues. Due to which today in one day from the assets of the investors Rs. 2.40 lakh crore was eroded.

At the close of business today, the Sensex closed down 610.37 points at 65,508.32, while the Nifty closed down 192.90 points at 19,523.55. Market breadth also decreased today with 1,524 shares rising, 2007 declining and 136 remaining unchanged.

Investors have become cautious as crude oil prices rise. If crude continues to stay above the $90 level, it will pose a risk to inflation and increase operational margins. Globally, US GDP data and the impact of Federal Reserve policy will be seen. Currently, a combination of high interest rates and US bond yields is influencing foreign investors to remain in a sell position.

On the other hand, the fear that the Federal Reserve will continue to increase the rate in the near future and the deteriorating condition of China's property market also had an adverse effect on the market.

Other heavyweight stocks including Reliance Ind., Infosys and ITC saw a sharp retreat today on heavy selling pressure. BSE midcap index fell by 1.19% while the smallcap index fell by 0.34%. The two major indices fell by as much as one percent.

A general pullback was seen today on the back of Chomer's sell-off. Today, IT index fell by 1.84 percent, FMCG index by 1.74 percent, Tech index by 1.49 percent, Consumer durables by 1.29 percent, Auto by 1.24 percent, Metal by 1.05 percent.

All NSE sectoral indices were in the red led by Nifty IT. Nifty Media, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Auto and Nifty Consumer Durables were among the other major sectoral losers which declined over 1 percent each.

Among global markets today, China's market was bullish while Tokyo and Hong Kong retreated. European markets remained soft in the early stages of trading.