Sensex sinks 509 pts, Nifty holds 16,050 in across-the-board sell-off

The 30-pack BSE frontline index closed 509 points, or 0.9 per cent lower, at 53,887 after trading between 53,825 and 54,236 during the day. The Nifty50, meanwhile, shut shop at 16,058, down 158 points or 0.97 per cent. It hit a high and a low of 16,159 and 16,031, respectively.

The benchmarks were dragged down by Eicher Motors, Infosys, Hindalco, BPCL, Britannia, Nestle, Power Grid, Grasim, HUL, HCL Tech, Titan, and M&M. All these shares were down between 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent.

On the upside, NTPC, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Hero Moto, and Bajaj Finance were the only gainers, up in the range of 0.08 per cent to 1.7 per cent. 

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices outperformed the benchmark indices as they shed just 0.5 per cent.

Bank stocks on radar

Of late, major bank stocks -- such as ICICI Bank, City Union Bank, Federal Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Indian Bank -- have started giving bullish signals as they conquer 200-DMA (200-daily moving average). READ MORE