NEW DELHI: Fresh lockdown fears and gloomy commentary by the US Fed policymakers gave a massive jolt to already shaken confidence of Indian equity investors who dumped shares on Thursday sending benchmark indices spiralling down.

Resurging virus cases in some parts of Europe may bring back lockdown as authorities in the UK and Scotland indicated. September F&O expiry also added to the volatility as traders either squared off or rolled over their position.

The 30-share pack Sensex nosedived 1,114.82 points or 2.96 per cent to 36,553.60. Its broader peer NSE Nifty slumped 326.30 points or 2.93 per cent to 10,805.55. Both indices extended their losing streak to the sixth day, matching a six-month old record.

The biggest drags on Sensex were from the IT and banking sector. Infosys contributed the most negative points towards Sensex at 150.04 points followed by RIL (143.34 points), TCS (130.68 points), ICICI Bank (100.53 points) and HDFC Bank (65.67 points).

Stock market investors lost Rs 3.91 lakh crore in Thursday’s rout as the market cap of BSE-listed firms slid to Rs 148.79 lakh crore.

“The uncertainty regarding economic recovery, the unabated rise in virus infections, and today being derivatives expiry day, all contributed to the negativity. With volatility expected to be high, traders are advised to remain cautious,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Market at a glance:

• Angel Broking IPO subscribed nearly 4 times so far
• GMM Pfaudler locked in lower circuit for third straight day
• Nifty IT and Nifty Metal indices biggest losers during the day, fall more than 4%
• Infy, RIL, TCS and ICICI Bank contribute nearly half of Sensex’s fall
• India VIX spikes over 12% to 24-level, reflecting widespread fear on Dalal Street
• Nifty Midcap slips below 50-DMA for first time since May 22
• Despite this, 89 stocks hit 52-week highs: Advanced Enzymes, Apollo Hospitals and Syngene International top names

Analysts believe the depression in the market will continue as a correction was much awaited, given surging valuation and overpricing of the economic recovery by the market. Market participants will keep an eye on how the world market reacts now as that may give some clue on the future course of the domestic indices.

Among the Nifty50 stocks, Bharti Infratel was the top gainer, which saw low-level buying after Wednesday’s massive fall. It gained 2.85 per cent to Rs 171.70 followed by Zee Entertainment and HUL that were other gainers.

IndusInd Bank was the biggest loser among Nifty constituents, down 7.45 per cent to Rs 488.70. It was followed by Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Grasim Industries, TCS, Tech Mahindra, UPL and M&M that slumped 5-7 per cent.

Broader markets also saw massive selling but were relatively better positioned than their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap dropped 2.57 per cent while Nifty Midcap extended its losing streak to sixth day, closing with a cut of 2.51 per cent.

Indiabulls Housing Finance, Ashok Leyland, Rajesh Exports, Indiabulls Real Estates, IRB Infra and IDFC were among the major losers from the mid and smallcap indices, falling in the range of 6-9 per cent.

On the other hand, Apollo Hospitals, Coromandel International, CESC, HEG Infra, Metropolis Healthcare and KEC International were among the top gainers from the broader market space, rising in the range of 2-8 per cent.

All sectoral indices closed deep in the red. Nifty Metal extended its loss to the sixth day today and was also the biggest loser, down 4.24 per cent. It followed closely by Nifty IT that fell 4.20 per cent. Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto were among other top losers.

Market breadth was in favour of the losers with 625 stocks ending in the green while 2,025 names shutting shop with cuts. As many as 89 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 75 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 160 stocks hit upper circuit limit and 384 lower circuit limit.

European markets were mixed with London’s FTSE falling 0.25 per cent and France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX adding 0.03 per cent and 0.25 per cent, respectively. All East Aisan markets closed the day in the red. Taiwan was the biggest loser, down 2.59 per cent.

Let’s prepare for tomorrow:

• Loan growth data: RBI will release bank loan and deposit growth data for the fortnight ended September 11 that will be tracked by investors of banking stocks.

• FX reserves: RBI will also release forex reserves data on Friday that will reveal the dollar buying pattern of the central bank.

• Global cues: Market participants will keep an eye on European and US markets as the movement will give a cue on how stocks may trade in India.