Sensex tumbles 1,214 points; banking, auto stocks worst hit

Mumbai: The Indian stock markets key indices, Sensex and Nifty, slumped by more than one-and-a-half per cent on Friday due to heavy selling pressure in auto, consumer durables, and banking stocks.

The Indian stocks have tumbled for the third straight day on negative cues from the global equities as crude oil prices continue to soar amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex opened deep in the red at 54,653.59 points and slumped to a low of 53,887.72 points in the morning trade, which is 1,214.96 points down from its previous day's close at 55,102.68 points.

At 12.16 pm, the Sensex was trading at 759.94 points or 1.38 per cent down at 54,342.74 points.
The Sensex had lost 366.22 points and 778.38 points in the previous two days respectively.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading at 233.05 points or 1.41 per cent down at 16,265 points. The Nifty had lost 107.90 points and 187.95 points in the previous two days, respectively.

There was heavy selling pressure in auto, consumer durables and banking and financial stocks.

Maruti Suzuki tumbled 5.24 per cent to Rs 7199.95. Hindustan Unilever dipped 4.67 per cent to Rs 1993.95. Asian Paints slumped 6.05 per cent to Rs 2697.60.

Among the banking stocks, Axis Bank was the biggest loser with 3.58 per cent decline. Bajaj Finance slumped 3.08 per cent to Rs 6539.70. HDFC slumped 2.07 per cent to Rs 2227.75. Kotak Bank fell 2.07 per cent to Rs 1752.80.

The index heavyweight Reliance Industries was trading 1.73 per cent down at Rs 2337.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.73 per cent to Rs 3784. Tech Mahindra rose 1.38 per cent to Rs 1447.05. ITC, Sun Pharma , UltraTech Cement and Wipro were among the other major Sensex gainers.