Broad-based sell-off trip Sensex, Nifty; Adani group stocks nosedive after US indictment

Mumbai: Unabated foreign fund outflows, weak trends in Asian and European peers, and the sell-off in Adani group stocks dragged benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty lower on Thursday.

After Gautam Adani was charged by US prosecutors over his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay $250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts, the market saw a sharp fall in Adani group stocks.

The BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 422.59 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 77,155.79. During the day, it lost 775.65 points or 0.99 per cent to 76,802.73.

The NSE Nifty slumped 168.60 points or 0.72 per cent to 23,349.90.

Adani Ports tumbled over 13 per cent from the 30-share Sensex pack. All other Adani group stocks, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Ports, and Adani Green Energy, fell sharply, up to nearly 23 per cent.

State Bank of India, NTPC, ITC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were also among the major laggards.

In contrast, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,411.73 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data, PTI reported.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower, while Shanghai ended higher. European markets were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended mostly in the positive zone.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.13 per cent to $73.71 a barrel.

Snapping its four days of decline, the BSE benchmark Sensex had climbed 239.37 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 77,578.38 on Tuesday. The Nifty also bounced back on Tuesday after falling in the past seven trading days. It rose 64.70 points or 0.28 per cent to settle at 23,518.50.