Selling pressure in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, ITC, and Axis Bank caused the Indian stock benchmarks to fall on Tuesday. As growing wholesale inflation soured investors' sentiment, the Sensex plummeted as much as 519 points and the Nifty 50 index dipped below its critical psychological milestone of 18,000, during the intraday session. Finally, at the closing point, the Sensex fell 396 points to 60,322, while the Nifty 50 index fell 110 points to 17,999.
The selling pressure was widespread, as thirteen of the National Stock Exchange's 15 sector indices ended lower, headed by the Nifty PSU Bank index, which fell more than 2 percent. The Nifty Private Bank, Healthcare, Pharma, Bank, FMCG, Metal, Financial Services, and Oil & Gas indices all dropped between 0.8 and 1.6 percent. On the other side, auto stocks saw a surge in purchasing interest following news that a chip shortage could be resolved soon.
According to government data released on Monday, India's annual wholesale price-based inflation accelerated to a five-month high of 12.54 percent in October, up from 10.66 percent in September, pushed up by higher increases in gasoline and manufacturing prices.
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