Sensex bleeds 796 pts, Nifty holds 19,900 as HDFC Bank slides 4%, RIL 2%

Stock market highlights: Global sell-off engulfed domestic markets on Wednesday, pressured by selling in HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries, as risk-off sentiment gripped markets. The nervousness ahead of the US Federal Reserve further dampened the sentiment. 

The S&P BSE Sensex slumped 796 points, or 1.18 per cent, to end at 66,801 levels, while the Nifty50 breached below the 20,000-mark to settle at 19,901, down 232 points or 1.15 per cent.

Sensex tanks 796 pts, Nifty breaks 20,000: Why are markets falling today?

The indices hit intraday lows of 66,728 and 19,879, respectively.

HDFC Bank shares were the biggest dragger on the benchmarks as they dropped nearly 4 per cent, while JSW Steel, Reliance Industries, Ultratech Cement, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Wipro, and Tech M slipped between 1 per cent and 2.5 per cent.

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The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices also ended lower by up to 0.5 per cent. 

Amid the broad-based selling, the Nifty Metal, Bank, and Private Bank indices eased up to 1.5 per cent.