Recession fears hit global mkts; Sensex drops 1,046 pts, Nifty below 15,400

Worries that the Fed's 75 basis point rate hike, the highest increase since 1994, meant that war against inflation was just getting started, hurt sentiment. Besides, the nearly 100-percentage point downward revision in economic growth forecast for 2022 hinted at "mild recession", said economists.

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Against this backdrop, the frontline indices hit fresh 52-week lows as they spiraled 2 per cent down. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 1,646 points from the day's high to end at 51,496, down 1,046 points from Wednesday's close. It hit a low of 51,434 during the day.  

The Nifty50 index hit a low of 15,344 during the day, before recovering marginally to close at 15,361, down 332 points. In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices declined up to 2.87 per cent.

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Cyclical sectors were the worst hit amid fears of a global slowdown with the Nifty Metal index cracking 5 per cent. The Nifty Realty, Auto, Bank, and IT indices fell over 2 per cent each.