Indian Equities Take a Tumble on May 3, 2024
Indian equities witnessed a sharp decline on Friday, May 3, 2024, with the benchmark indices ending the day deep in the red. The S&P BSE Sensex plummeted 733 points, or 0.98%, to close at 73,878, while the Nifty50 index shed 173 points, or 0.76%, to settle at 22,476.
The selling pressure was widespread, with 24 out of the 30 Sensex stocks and 35 out of the 50 Nifty stocks closing in the negative territory. Major losers included L&T, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Industries, Nestle India, JSW Steel, and Bharti Airtel, which fell between 1.7% and 2.7%.
The broader markets also faced a downturn, with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices declining 0.2% and 0.55%, respectively. India VIX, a measure of market volatility, surged nearly 9%.
Among sectors, the Nifty Realty index suffered the most, dropping 1%. The Nifty IT, Auto, and PSU Bank indices also witnessed declines of 0.7% each.