<p>Equity markets fell sharply in late afternoon trade on Wednesday, with the Sensex and Nifty diving over 2 per cent each after the RBI in a surprise move hiked the benchmark lending rate to 4.40 per cent to contain inflation.</p>.<p>The 30-share BSE benchmark tumbled 1,306.96 points or 2.29 per cent to settle at 55,669.03. During the day, it plummeted 1,474.39 points or 2.58 per cent to 55,501.60.</p>.<p>The NSE Nifty tanked 391.50 points or 2.29 per cent to finish at 16,677.60.</p>.<p>The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the benchmark lending rate by 40 basis points to 4.40 per cent in a bid to contain inflation, which has remained stubbornly above the target zone of 6 per cent for the last three months.</p>.<p>The decision follows an unscheduled meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), with all six members unanimously voting for a rate hike while maintaining the accommodative stance.</p>.<p>"The MPC's decision, in an unscheduled meeting, to raise the repo rate by 40 bps and CRR by 50 bps is a surprise since it came on the LIC IPO opening date. MPC's proactive move is justified from the perspective of inflation management, but the timing leaves a lot to be desired.</p>.<p>"The above 1,000 point crash in Sensex has soured the sentiments on the opening day of India's largest IPO," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.</p>.<p>From the Sensex pack, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, RIL, Asian Paints, Maruti and Dr Reddy's were the prominent losers.</p>.<p>In contrast, PowerGrid, NTPC and Kotak Mahindra Bank closed in the green.</p>.<p>Markets in Seoul and Hong Kong settled in the red. Bourses in Europe were also trading lower in the afternoon session.</p>.<p>Stock exchanges in the US surged in trade on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 3.12 per cent to USD 108.3 per barrel.</p>.<p>Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 1,853.46 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data. </p>
<p>Equity markets fell sharply in late afternoon trade on Wednesday, with the Sensex and Nifty diving over 2 per cent each after the RBI in a surprise move hiked the benchmark lending rate to 4.40 per cent to contain inflation.</p>.<p>The 30-share BSE benchmark tumbled 1,306.96 points or 2.29 per cent to settle at 55,669.03. During the day, it plummeted 1,474.39 points or 2.58 per cent to 55,501.60.</p>.<p>The NSE Nifty tanked 391.50 points or 2.29 per cent to finish at 16,677.60.</p>.<p>The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the benchmark lending rate by 40 basis points to 4.40 per cent in a bid to contain inflation, which has remained stubbornly above the target zone of 6 per cent for the last three months.</p>.<p>The decision follows an unscheduled meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), with all six members unanimously voting for a rate hike while maintaining the accommodative stance.</p>.<p>"The MPC's decision, in an unscheduled meeting, to raise the repo rate by 40 bps and CRR by 50 bps is a surprise since it came on the LIC IPO opening date. MPC's proactive move is justified from the perspective of inflation management, but the timing leaves a lot to be desired.</p>.<p>"The above 1,000 point crash in Sensex has soured the sentiments on the opening day of India's largest IPO," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.</p>.<p>From the Sensex pack, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, RIL, Asian Paints, Maruti and Dr Reddy's were the prominent losers.</p>.<p>In contrast, PowerGrid, NTPC and Kotak Mahindra Bank closed in the green.</p>.<p>Markets in Seoul and Hong Kong settled in the red. Bourses in Europe were also trading lower in the afternoon session.</p>.<p>Stock exchanges in the US surged in trade on Tuesday.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 3.12 per cent to USD 108.3 per barrel.</p>.<p>Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 1,853.46 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data. </p>