Sensex slips 224 points, Nifty50 tanks over 1% on Trump turmoil

NEW DELHI: It was terrible Thursday for the bulls on Dalal Street.

After a record-breaking rally in last four sessions, domestic benchmark indices succumbed to the negative global cues as uncertainty mounted over the Donald Trump regime in the US following reports that he tried to interfere with a federal investigation.

On Wednesday, US stocks were sharply lower after reports of a leaked memo by former FBI chief James Comey caused alarm on Capitol Hill, raising questions over whether President Trump tried to interfere with a federal investigation, said a Reuters report.

According to the reports, Trump allegedly asked Comey to end a probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s ties with Russia.

The development did not go down well with financial markets across the globe, including India.

The S&P BSE Sensex on Thursday shed 224 points to end the day below the 30,500 level at 30,434 with IT major Wipro being the top gainer and Tata Motors the worst laggard.

Industry heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and L&T were the major contributors to the fall. The 30-share index, which had opened at 30,466 against the previous close of 30,658, witnessed a 182-point swing in intraday trade.

In the midcap and smallcap segments, the S&P BSE Midcap index bled over 2 per cent to close at 14,750, thanks to a free fall in the shares of IDBI Bank, JSW Steel and Bharat Forge. On similar lines, S&P BSE Smallcap index lost 2.04 per cent to close at 15,361.

In the sectoral landscape, IT stocks bucked the trend, pushing the S&P BSE IT index 1.21 per cent higher to 10,188, with TCS, Infosys and Wipro contributing most to the surge.

Among specific stocks, shares of CESC fell over 15 per cent after the group Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said the company was being split into four companies by way of mirror image demerger for value unlocking and focused management into each of the verticals.

BPO company Firstsource, sports, FMCG and real estate will be bought under CESC Ventures. All these four entities will be listed and the effective date will be October 1.

Shares of IDBI Bank fell 6 per cent to close at Rs 70 per share after the lender reported widening of net loss to Rs 3,199 crore for March quarter from Rs 1,735.81 crore reported for the corresponding quarter last year.

On the other hand, shares of Jaiprakash Associates gained over 4 per cent to Rs 12.99 apiece.

Reports that Trump had tried to intervene in an investigation into alleged Russian interference in last year's US election and that his aides had numerous undisclosed contacts with Russian officials kept tension high in equity markets around the world.

Asian stocks fell after Wall Street suffered its worst day in over eight months in overnight trade and Europe's main bourses dropped between 0.8 and 1.3 per cent as the selling momentum built up.

China's main stock indices followed other Asian markets lower on Thursday as political turmoil in Washington knocked Wall Street and dented risk appetite in global markets.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.3 per cent to 3,398, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.5 per cent to 3,090.