Sensex tumbles 900 points; Nifty50 down almost 1,000 points in six sessions

• Since October 17, the BSE benchmark has tumbled almost 5%.
• Mahindra & Mahindra was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack.
• Axis Bank, ITC, HCL Technologies were the gainers in trade.

Sliding for the sixth straight session, equity benchmark Sensex on Thursday plunged about 900 points to crash below the 64,000 level due to an across-the-board selloff amid heightened tension in the Middle East. Besides sluggish trends in global markets, deep losses in auto, financial and energy stocks as well as fresh selling by foreign investors added to the gloom, analysts said.

Meanwhile, the Nifty50 has slipped almost a 1,000 points in the last six trading sessions ending 264.90 points or 1.39% down to 18,857.25.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities, said that, "As long as the index is trading below 19,000, the weak sentiment is likely to continue till 18,800-18,725 levels. On the flip side, one relief rally is possible only after the dismissal of 19,000 and above the same, the index could move up till 19,100-19,150."

The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 900.91 points or 1.41% to settle below the 64,000 mark at 63,148.15. During the day, it plummeted 956.08 points or 1.49% to 63,092.98.

Since October 17, the BSE benchmark has tumbled 3,279.94 points or 4.93%, while the Nifty fell 954.25 points or 4.81%.

Mahindra & Mahindra was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, falling 4.06%, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, JSW Steel, Titan, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro.

In contrast, Axis Bank, ITC, HCL Technologies, NTPC and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower, while Shanghai ended in the green.

European markets were trading with significant losses. The US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.65% to USD 89.54 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,236.60 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark tanked 522.82 points or 0.81% to settle at 64,049.06 on Wednesday. The Nifty fell 159.60 points or 0.83% to 19,122.15.