Indian stocks dip for third straight day; Sensex sinks 769 points

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 4 : The Indian stock markets key indices tumbled for the third straight day on Friday with Sensex and Nifty slumping by around one-and-a-half per cent due to heavy selling pressure in auto, consumer durables, and banking stocks.
The Indian stocks have tumbled for the third straight day on negative cues from the global equities as crude oil prices continue to soar amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex opened deep in the red at 54,653.59 points and slumped to a low of 53,887.72 points in the morning trade, which is 1,214.96 points down from its previous day's close at 55,102.68 points.
The Sensex closed 768.87 points or 1.40 per cent down at 54,333.81 points.
The Sensex had lost 366.22 points and 778.38 points in the previous two days respectively.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange slumped 252.70 points or 1.53 per cent to 16,245.35 points. The Nifty had lost 107.90 points and 187.95 points in the previous two days, respectively.
There was heavy selling pressure in auto, consumer durables and banking and financial stocks.
Titan slumped 5.05 per cent to Rs 2443.60. Maruti Suzuki tumbled 4.66 per cent to Rs 7244.35. Asian Paints dipped 4.61 per cent to Rs 2738.95. Mahindra & Mahindra slumped 3.90 per cent to Rs 732.10. Hindustan Unilever dipped 3.43 per cent to Rs 2019.90.
There was a sharp plunge in banking and financial stocks. Bajaj Finance slipped 3.09 per cent to Rs 6539.25. Axis Bank dipped 3.07 per cent to Rs 715.15. HDFC slumped 2.42 per cent to Rs 2219.85. Kotak Bank fell 1.94 per cent to Rs 1755.05. ICICI Bank closed 1.45 per cent down at Rs 688.20.
The index heavyweight Reliance Industries closed 2.22 per cent down at Rs 2325.35.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 2.95 per cent to Rs 3829.30. ITC jumped 2.78 per cent to Rs 225.45. Tech Mahindra rose 1.84 per cent to Rs 1453.60. UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Wipro and Infosys were the other Sensex gainers.