Sensex plunges 323 points in late sell-off; Infosys, RIL top drags

Mumbai: Market benchmark Sensex tumbled over 323 points after an intense last-hour sell-off on Wednesday, triggered by losses mainly in index heavyweights Infosys, Reliance and HDFC.

After trading in the green for most part of the session, the BSE gauge settled 323.34 points or 0.55 per cent lower at 58,340.99 -- marking its fifth decline in the last six days.

Likewise, the NSE Nifty fell 88.30 points or 0.5 per cent to end at 17,415.05.

On the Sensex chart, Maruti, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, ITC, Reliance, L&T, UltraTech Cement and HDFC were the major losers, dropping as much as 2.62 per cent.

On the other hand, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance, and PowerGrid closed with gains.

Of the Sensex constituents, 22 shares ended in the red.

Elsewhere in Asia, stock markets closed with moderate to deep losses, tracking a rise in US bond yields and volatility in global crude oil prices in the wake of price-cooling efforts by the US and other countries.

Offloading of shares by foreign institutional investors continued on Tuesday, as they sold shares worth Rs 4,477.06 crore on a net basis.