Market Highlights: Sensex crashes 456 points, Nifty ends below 18,300 weighed by RIL, Infy and HDFC Bank

Share/Stock Highlights: The benchmark equity indices on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell for the second consecutive day on Wednesday amid a selloff across sectors.

The S&P BSE Sensex cracked 456.09 points (0.74 per cent) to end at 61,259.96 while the Nifty 50 declined 152.20 points (0.83 per cent) to settle at 18,266.60.

Market heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was the biggest contributor to Sensex’s fall on Wednesday. It was followed by Infosys, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

Among sectoral indices on NSE, the Nifty Metal index fell 2.06 per cent on Wednesday weighed by Hindustan Copper and Vedanta. The Nifty Realty index too cracked 2.16 per cent due to a fall in Macrotech Developers and Indiabulls Real Estate. The Nifty Pharma index fell 1.44 per cent dragged by Gland Pharma and Strides Pharma Science.

The broader market indices performed worse than their benchmark peers. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 25,914.53, down 503.75 points (1.91 per cent) while the S&P BSE SmallCap settled at 28,878.73, down 683.87 points (2.31 per cent).