Sensex plunges over 260 points, Nifty ends below 14,150 

The Domestic stock market indices, Sensex and Nifty ended lower Wednesday dragged by selling in IT and FMCG stocks amid mixed global cues.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex tanked 264 points, or 0.54 per cent, to settle the day at 48,174 levels. In the intra-day session, the index had slumped 750 points from fresh record high of 48,616 levels to hit a low of 47,864.

ITC and Reliance Industries skid 3 per cent each on the BSE, ending the day as top drags. Other large-caps, down up to 2 per cent, were Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, and TCS.

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The NSE's Nifty50, meanwhile, slipped below the 14,150-mark and ended the session at 14,146, down 53 points or 0.38 per cent. From the new peak of 14,244, the index dropped 200 points to hit a low of 14,040.

Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG indices were the top sectoral losers on the NSE, down over 1 per cent each. On the contrary, Nifty Metal index managed to close 1 per cent higher.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended the day in the green, up 0.4 per cent at 18,749 level. However, the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed at 18,614 level, down 0.14 per cent.

Global markets

European stocks edged higher on Wednesday, led by economically sensitive sectors such as banks and energy. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2 per cent, while UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.7 per cent, and Germany's DAX gained 0.2 per cent.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei ended 0.4 per cent lower, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.75 per cent, and Australia's S&P/200 index declined 1.1 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)