Sensex Sinks 654 Points; F&O Expiry, Spike In Oil Weigh

Business

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Published: Thursday, March 26, 2015, 15:30 [IST]

The Sensex and the Nifty ended the day sharply lower weighed down by a surge in oil prices following an attack by Saudi Arabia on rebels in Yemen.

The Sensex dropped a huge 654 points, while the Nifty fell 188 points as investors sold heavily on the last day of F&O expiry. This was the worst fall for the Nifty since Jan 6.

Shares in HDFC were the top losers in trade falling almost 6 per cent in trade. All the major blue chips were down in trade including the likes of Infosys and HDFC Bank, which worries investors that FIIs may have resorted to basket selling. Coal India, Hindustan Unilever and Wipro were the other losers.

But clearly, it was the banking stocks that tumbled in trade with ICICI Bank and Axis Bank following HDFC Bank. Shares in United Bank of India jumped 4 per cent after the Reserve Bank of India eased lending norms for the Bank.

Bharti Airtel, Hero and GAIL managed to buck the trend and saw buying interest at lower levels. Shares in Tata Steel fell to its lowest level since Oct 2013. Larsen and Toubro which had fallen sharply on Wednesday manage to gain some ground in trade.

Gayatri Projects ended the day higher after the company bagged a new order worth Rs 175.3 crore from Hyderabad Growth Corridor.

Meanwhile, global markets tumbled in trade following worries over escalating oil price in Yemen.

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