Sensex tanks 456 points; Nifty slumps below 18,300

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex slumped 456 points on Wednesday, tracking losses in index majors Reliance Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank as market participants continued to book profits at high levels.

The 30-share index ended 456.09 points or 0.74 per cent lower at 61,259.96. Similarly, the NSE Nifty dropped 152.15 points or 0.83 per cent to 18,266.60.

Titan was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by HUL, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, L&T and PowerGrid.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank were among the gainers.

"Indices corrected quite meaningfully led by the expensive side of the market where valuations had got stretched," said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

Almost all sectoral indices ended in the red although PSU banks were seen bucking the trend with investors cherry-picking for value in that pocket, he noted.

Further, he said the street is taking note of the cost pressures emanating from higher input costs in companies that do not possess the pricing power.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Tokyo ended with gains, while Shanghai and Seoul were in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading mixed in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.82 per cent to USD 84.38 per barrel.