Sensex falls 621 points, Nifty ends below 17,750; TechM, Ultratech Cement, RIL top losers

Indian benchmark indices ended lower after four days of gains amid Covid 19 worries and Federal Reserve's hawkish stance. Sensex fell 621 points to 59,601 and Nifty closed 179 points lower at 17,745. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 23 ended in the red.

Tech Mahindra was the top Sensex loser, shedding over 2.5 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, HDFC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and TCS.

IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, Titan and Bajaj Finance were among the Sensex gainers, rising up to 1.74%.

"...quicker than previously anticipated rate hike from the US Fed could witness outflows from the domestic markets and could weigh on sentiments," Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.25 per cent to $81 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 336.83 crore, as per exchange data.

 On Wednesday, Sensex zoomed 367 points to reclaim the 60,000-mark. The index ended 0.61 per cent higher at 60,223 and Nifty rose 120 points to 17,925. Bajaj Finserv was the top Sensex gainer, rising 5.09 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints and ICICI Bank.

Global markets

World stocks crashed after minutes of Federal Reserve's recent meeting indicated that the US central bank may hike interest rates faster to cool inflation.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slid 1.9% and the Dow sank 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite tumbled 3.3% in its biggest one-day decline in 11 months.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 2.9% to 28,487.87 and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2% to 3,586.08. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended up 0.7% at 23,072.86 following a rally late in the session.