Sensex tanks over 300 pts in early trade on global selloff

Mumbai, Aug.20 (PTI): Domestic equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 300 points in early trade on Thursday tracking selloff in global markets after US Fed’s gloomy economic outlook spooked investors.

The BSE Sensex was trading 344.53 points or 0.89 per cent lower at 38,270.26; while NSE Nifty was down 92.80 points or 0.81 per cent at 11,315.60.

ICICI Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, HDFC, ITC, Asian Paints and Titan.

On the other hand, NTPC, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma and Infosys were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the Sensex closed at 38,614.79, up 86.47 points or 0.22 per cent, while the Nifty rose 23.05 points or 0.20 per cent to 11,408.40.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 459.01 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.

According to traders, domestic bourses followed negative trend in global equities as selloff emerged after the US Federal Reserve released the minutes from its latest policy meeting.

The Fed’s minutes showed that policy makers are finding it difficult to forecast the path of the economy, as the coronavirus likely would continue to dampen economic growth.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended in the red in overnight session.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with heavy losses in mid-day deals.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.75 per cent lower at USD 45.03 per barrel.