Sensex plunges 504 pts; bank, auto stocks tank

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex plummeted 504 points on Wednesday tracking heavy losses in banking and auto stocks as investors turned jittery over geopolitical uncertainties and global slowdown concerns.

After sinking 586 points during the day, the 30-share index ended 503.62 points, or 1.29 per cent, lower at 38,593.52. The broader NSE Nifty plunged 148 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 11,440.20.

Top laggards in the Sensex pack were SBI, Tata Motors, Maruti, Yes Bank, M&M, HDFC twins, ITC, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Steel and L&T, losing up to 7.37 per cent.

On the other hand, PowerGrid, TCS, NTPC, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and RIL rallied up to 4.39 per cent.

According to traders, domestic investor sentiment took a beating as concerns over US political uncertainty, US-China trade war and a looming global economic slowdown spooked stock markets.

Global market sentiment turned negative following top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi's announcement of opening of a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, saying he betrayed his oath of office by seeking help from a foreign power to hurt his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Further, Trump put China on notice at the United Nations conference, declaring that the time of trade "abuses" by Beijing was "over" and calling on the country to protect Hong Kong's "democratic ways of life".

Elsewhere in Asia, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite Index, Nikkei and Kospi ended significantly lower.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading nearly 1 per cent lower in their respective early sessions.

Meanwhile, stoking fears of an economic slump, the Asian Development Bank on Wednesday sharply cut India's growth forecast to 6.5 per cent for the current fiscal.

As per the latest Asian Development Outlook, South Asia's growth momentum has softened. For the region, the growth forecasts were lowered to 6.2 per cent for 2019 and 6.7 per cent for 2020.

On the currency front, the rupee depreciated 9 paise to 71.10 against the US dollar (intra-day).

Brent crude futures fell 1.65 per cent to USD 62.06 per barrel.