MUMBAI: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell sharply on Thursday, driven by a significant drop in Adani group stocks following the charges against billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani in the US for alleged bribery and fraud.
Additionally, continued foreign fund outflows and weak trends in Asian and European markets contributed to the downward movement of the indices.
The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged 422.59 points or 0.54 per cent, closing at 77,155.79. During the day, it had lost 775.65 points or 0.99 per cent, touching 76,802.73. The NSE Nifty fell 168.60 points or 0.72 per cent, closing at 23,349.90.
Adani ports drops 13%
Among the 30 shares of the Sensex, Adani Ports saw a steep drop of over 13 per cent after Gautam Adani was charged by US prosecutors over his alleged involvement in a long-running scheme to pay $250 million in bribes to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms on solar power contracts.
Other Adani group stocks, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Ports, and Adani Green Energy, also saw sharp declines, with losses of up to nearly 23 per cent.
Other major laggards included State Bank of India, NTPC, ITC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, andBajaj Finserv.
Gainers
On the other hand, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies, and Axis Bank were among the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,411.73 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. The Indian stock markets were closed on Wednesday due to the assembly elections in Maharashtra.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong ended lower, while Shanghai closed higher. European markets were also trading in the negative zone, while US markets ended mostly positive.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.13 per cent to $73.71 per barrel.
Earlier this week, the Sensex had snapped a four-day decline, climbing 239.37 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 77,578.38 on Tuesday. The Nifty also bounced back on Tuesday after falling for seven consecutive trading days, rising 64.70 points or 0.28 per cent to close at 23,518.50.
