Sensex Falls | Market breaks due to heavy selling in HDFC, Sensex falls 695 points

File Photo MUMBAI: Both the benchmark indices declined over one per cent on Friday in the absence of any strong cues from global markets and heavy selling in HDFC Bank and HDFC Bank shares domestically. BSE’s 30-share index Sensex fell 694.96 points, or 1.13 percent, to 61,054.29 points under selling pressure. At one point during the trading, the Sensex had slipped to 747.08 points. The National Stock Exchange’s (NSE) benchmark index Nifty also declined by 186.80 points, or 1.02%. Nifty closed at 18,069 points thus Nifty closed at 18,069 points. A day earlier, the Sensex climbed 555.95 points, or 0.91%, to close at 61,749.25. Among the Sensex companies, HDFC Bank declined heavily by 5.80%. Shares of HDFC Ltd also declined significantly by 5.57%. There was a huge sell-off in these companies due to the possibility of large-scale capital withdrawal from the merged company. Apart from these, shares of IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro and NTPC were also in the red. On the other hand, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle, ITC and Larsen & Toubro gained. Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, said heavy selling in HDFC companies on fears of fund outflows post merger led to the fall in the Indian market. Also Read: Net buying of shares worth Rs 1,414.73 crore from Indian bourses besides lack of any significant cues from global markets also weighed on sentiment. In other markets of Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite closed with a decline, while Hong Kong’s Hangseng closed with gains. Europe’s bourses were trading higher in the afternoon session. US markets were declining on Thursday. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.59% to $73.65 per barrel. According to data from the stock market, foreign investors made a net purchase of shares worth Rs 1,414.73 crore from the Indian bourses on Thursday.