Sensex drops nearly 200 points; bank, auto stocks drag

New Delhi: Markets opened in the negative zone on Wednesday tracking global cues while metal, banking and auto stocks were major drags.

The BSE Sensex dropped 196.04 points or 0.54 percent at 36,288.29 while the NSE Nifty fell 55.85 points or 0.51 percent at 10,911.45 in early trade.

Top losers include Vedanta, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Wipro, PowerGrid, Infosys, Maruti, Adani Ports and Kotak Bank, falling up to 2 percent. While, gainers include Asian Paints, Yes Bank, M&M, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank, rising up to 2 percent.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,209.21 crore Wednesday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 481.46 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Asian shares retreated on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates, as expected, and kept most of its guidance for additional hikes next year, dashing investor hopes for a more dovish policy outlook, a Reuters report said.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.34 percent, with Australian shares dropping as much as 0.65 percent to two-year lows.

Japan`s Nikkei shed 0.8 percent to nine-month lows.

In New York, U.S. S&P 500 Index lost 1.54 percent to hit its lowest level since September 2017.

With Agency Inputs