Sensex tanks 523 points on profit-taking in banking, metal shares

“An uptick in exchange margin requirements caused a decrease in positions, primarily in mid and small caps. Aside from the pharma and IT sectors, selling was widespread, with notable struggles seen in PSU banks,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

In the Sensex pack, Tata Steel fell the most by 2.76 per cent, followed by NTPC (2.72 per cent) and SBI (2.26 per cent). Private banks IndusInd, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also declined.

In contrast, Wipro, HCL Tech, Mahindra & Mahindra and Nestle were among the nine Sensex stocks that defied the trend.

BSE smallcap index fell 3.16 per cent while midcap lost 2.62 per cent and largecap closed 0.90 per cent lower.

Among the sectoral indices, utilities saw a steepest fall of 3.60 per cent, followed by realty which declined by 3.01 per cent and power that went down by 2.90 per cent. Industrials fell 2.92 per cent and energy slid 2.80 per cent, while metal declined by 2.73 per cent and oil & gas by 2.56 per cent.

Capital goods, commodities, bankex and financial services were other laggards.