Sensex, Nifty tumble in early trade dragged by Axis Bank, weak global peers

New Delhi: Equity market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled in early trade on Thursday, continuing to decline for the fifth day running, dragged by Axis Bank and overall bearish global market trends.

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The announcement of a hike in securities transaction tax and short term capital gains tax in the Budget for 2024-25, heavy foreign fund outflows and profit-taking after a record rally also impacted markets' sentiment negatively during the initial trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 671 points to 79,477.83. The NSE Nifty tumbled 202.7 points to 24,210.80.

JSW Steel, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement and Titan were the other laggards.

"Global cues have turned distinctly negative with a sharp 3.64 percent cut in Nasdaq, which is the worst cut in 2024. The tech stocks which have been driving the rally in the US are facing the brunt of selling due to worse-than-expected results and news.

"In India, too, the sentiments have turned a bit negative on the Budget proposals to raise the capital gains tax," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,130.90 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark declined 280.16 points or 0.35 percent to settle at 80,148.88 on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty dropped 65.55 points or 0.27 percent to 24,413.50.

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