Sensex drops by 400 points, IT and pharma stocks drag

Equity benchmark indices retreated from a recent rally on Wednesday amid mixed global cues as investors booked profit in heavyweight stocks.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 400 points or 0.77 per cent at 51,704 while the Nifty 50 cracked by 105 points or 0.68 per cent to 15,209.

Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty IT down by 1.3 per cent, private bank by 0.9 per cent and pharma by 1.7 per cent. But Nifty PSU bank was up by 5.8 per cent.

Among stocks, Nestle India cracked by 3 per cent to Rs 16,700 per share on weak December quarter results.

Private lenders HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank dropped by 2.5 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively. Bajaj Finserv was down by 2.5 per cent, Maruti Suzuki by 2.5 per cent, Dr Reddy's by 2.1 per cent and Wipro by 1.6 per cent.

However, Ad Ports gained by 2.7 per cent to Rs 654 per share after the company said it has completed the acquisition of Dighi Port for Rs 705 crore.

The other gainers were Hero MotoCorp, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, GAIL, NTPC and ONGC.

Meanwhile, Asian shares slipped as investors booked profits after a recent rally. The Nikkei share average fell by 0.87 per cent.

South Korean shares fell after gaining for three consecutive sessions as the number of new Covid-19 cases hitting the highest levels in 39 days weighed on sentiment.

( With inputs from ANI )