Equity market tumbles, Maruti skids by 3.5 pc

Bears strengthened their grip on equity market with benchmark indices cracking over one per cent on Thursday amid weak global cues and as caution set in ahead of the Union Budget.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 536 points or 1.13 per cent at 46,874 while the Nifty 50 lowered by 150 points or 1.07 per cent to 13,818.

Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the negative zone with Nifty IT and realty dipping by 2.2 per cent each, FMCG by 1.9 per cent, PSU bank by 1.7 per cent and auto by 1 per cent.

Among stocks, Hindustan Unilever was down by 3.6 per cent to Rs 2,304 per share.

Automaker Maruti Suzuki lost by 3.4 per cent to Rs 7,600 per share while private lenders HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank slipped by 2.6 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively.

The other prominent losers were Wipro, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finserv and UPL. However, Axis Bank was up by 5.5 per cent, ICICI Bank by 1.1 per cent and State Bank of India by 2.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian shares slid as delays with coronavirus vaccines shook investor optimism about an early recovery for the global economy.

Japan's Nikkei fell by 1.53 per cent, its sharpest drop since October, and South Korea eased by 1.71 per cent led by losses in Samsung after it reported earnings.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index cracked by 2.55 per cent and Shanghai composite by 1.91 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )