Markets opening bell: Sensex slides over 700 points, Nifty below 17,900

Markets opening bell: Sensex slides over 700 points, Nifty below 17,900

Shares tumbled on Wednesday, led by sharp declines in technology stocks, as faster-than-expected U.S. inflation data stoked fears that the Federal Reserve would not let up on its aggressive policy tightening.

 Markets Opening Bell: A general view of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). (Reuters)

The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 1.04% at 17,882.65, as of 0348 GMT while the S&P BSE Sensex slid 1.1% to 59,902.74.

In early trades on Wednesday, the Nifty and the Sensex had dropped 1.65% and 1.91%, respectively, posting their biggest intraday fall in over two weeks.

The Nifty IT index was the hardest hit in Mumbai, sliding 3.7%, with IT majors Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services dropping around 3.5% each.

Wall Street had plunged the most since June 2020 and Asian shares skidded after U.S. consumer price data unexpectedly rose in August, cementing expectations that the Fed will deliver a third 75-basis-point rate hike next week.