Mumbai, Dec 20 (IANS): The Indian stock market shed more than 1,000 points on Friday amid the global selloff, after the US Federal Reserve hinted at a slow pace of interest rate cuts in the future.
Heavy selling was seen in the realty and PSU bank sectors of Nifty.
At closing, Sensex settled at 78,041.59 down by 1,176.46 points, or 1.49 per cent, and Nifty ended at 23,587.50 down by 364.20 points, or 1.52 per cent.
According to Krishna Appala of Capitalmind Research, the markets are becoming increasingly stock-specific while the broader indices take a pause.
"Several key events are influencing the current sentiment, including the upcoming US Presidential regime change with Donald Trump set to take office in January, and the Indian Union Budget announcement just weeks away," Appala added.
Nifty Bank ended at 50,759.20, down by 816.50 points, or 1.58 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 56,906.75 at the end of trading after dropping 1,649.50 points, or 2.82 per cent.
On the sectoral front, selling was seen in Nifty's Auto, IT, Fin Services, Pharma, FMCG, Metal, Media, Energy, Private Bank, Infra, Commodities, and PSE sectors.
On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 1,057 shares ended in green and 2,935 in red, whereas there was no change in 93 shares.
In the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, M&M, Tata Motors, L&T, SBI, TCS, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, Reliance, and Tata Steel were the top losers. Nestle India and Titan were the top gainers.
According to experts, disappointment regarding the slower-than-anticipated rate cuts by the US Fed has adversely affected global market sentiment. This bearish outlook is particularly impacting the domestic market.
Meanwhile, the rupee traded with strength at 85.02 for the day, gaining 0.12 as it bounced back from oversold levels near 85.10.