Mumbai, March 2 : Snapping a gaining streak of last two sessions, the BSE Sensex on Wednesday dropped 778.30 points to close at 55,468.90 as the Russia-Ukraine conflict entered its seventh day. Rising crude prices and weak global cues too impacted the same. The crude oil prices were above $110 a barrel on Wednesday. The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too slipped 187.95 points at 16,605.95. Gaining 1716 points in last two sessions, the BSE sensex fell 618 points to open at 55,629.30. During the day it lost 1,227 points at 55,020.10 days low, before closing at 55,468.90, sliding 778.38 points from its previous close. The Sensex registered the day’s high and low at 55,755.09 and 55,020.10 respectively. The Nifty recorded the day’s high and low at 16,678.50 and 16,478.65 respectively. Sectoral indices like auto, bankex, finance, telecom and consumer discretionary goods and services stocks dragged the market. Auto, bankex and finance slid more than 2 per cent while consumer discretionary goods and services and telecom fell by more than 1 per cent. In scrips, Maruti Suzuki, a top loser, tumbled 5.95 per cent to Rs 7,818 followed by Dr Reddy’s Lab by 5.23 per cent to Rs 3,850.45, Asian Paints by 4.21 per cent to Rs 3,039, ICICI Bank by 3.43 per cent to Rs 717 and HDFC by 3.33 per cent to Rs 2,286.20. The gainers were Tata Steel by 5.66 per cent to Rs 1,290, Reliance Industries by 1.59 per cent to Rs 2,396.65, Titan by 1.58 per cent to Rs 2,584.95, Axis Bank by 1.49 per cent to Rs 753.70 and Nestle India by 1.06 per cent to Rs 17,789.60. The Mid Cap fell by 0.17 per cent and Small Cap by 0.12 per cent. In 30 scrips, 8 advanced while 22 declined. European stocks were uncertain on Wednesday as the geopolitical crisis between Russia and Ukraine continued. The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered around the flatline by mid-morning after declining 0.9 per cent at the start. In Asian market, Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.7 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s hang Seng eased 0.13 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. However, South Korea’s Kospi went up 0.16 per cent, and Australia’s ASX200 too gained 0.28 per cent. NV MR
