Sensex drops by 1,300 points, Nifty falls by 300 points

Dubai - In the opening bell session, the highlights included a jump in IndusInd Bank of 10 per cent, while ONGC declined three per cent.

India's leading indices, S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty 50, dropped by four per cent as investors followed global cues. The Sensex dropped by 1,336 points or by nearly 4.53 per cent to 28,132.14 and Nifty 50 by 385.80 points or nearly 4.49 per cent at 8,211.95 on Wednesday as the bears held on to the carnage in equity markets.
Bearish market trends like massive selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), drop in auto stocks, fear of defaults by companies were some of the factors that added to the drop in equities.The foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled a record $15.9 billion out of the Indian debt and equity markets in March, according to a report in Indian media.
For the year, FPIs have pulled out a record $15.11 billion from India, the most in Asia, barring South Korea. FPIs account for a fifth of the total market capitalisation of Indian equities. In the first fortnight of March, the selling of FPIs in financial services, banks and oil & gas counters accounted for nearly 90 per cent of the total outflow.
FPIs have sold equities worth $9.5 billion in the past 22 days.Reports of US projections of entering 'bad phase' of seeing surge in deaths up to 240,000 due to outbreak of corona virus added to the investor woes.In the opening bell session, the highlights included jump in IndusInd Bank of 10 per cent and ONGC declined three per cent.
The Sensex index opened 36.84 points higher at 29,505.33, and the broader Nifty 50 benchmark started the day at 8,584.10, down 13.65 points from the previous close. The Sensex tanked nearly 700 points or 2.32 per cent to 28,783.52.
The Nifty 50 was at 8,398.95 recording a decline of two per cent or nearly 200 pointsForex markets are expected to remain shut for annual closing of banks.In overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell 410.32 points, or 1.84 per cent, to 21,917.16. The S&P500 index slid 42.06 points, or 1.60 per cent, to 2,584.59. The Nasdaq Composite index fell 74.05 points, or 0.95 per cent, to 7,700.10.
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