The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 644.64 points or 0.79% to settle at 80,951.99 with 27 of its constituents ending lower. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Benchmark Sensex declined by nearly 645 points while Nifty retreated to 24,600 level due to selling in IT, oil and FMCG shares amid a global equity rout triggered by surging bond yields and U.S. debt concerns.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 644.64 points or 0.79% to settle at 80,951.99 with 27 of its constituents ending lower. The index opened lower and tanked further 1,106.71 points or 1.35 to hit a low of 80,489.92 during the day due to across-the-board selling.

The NSE Nifty tumbled 203.75 points or 0.82% to 24,609.70.

From the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries and Maruti were the biggest laggards.

IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and UltraTech Cement were the gainers.

“The key benchmark indices witnessed declines amid U.S. fiscal concerns that the proposed budget bill could significantly increase the national debt, pushing U.S. treasury yields higher due to tepid long-term bond demand. Adding to the pressure, a major credit rating agency’s downgrade of the U.S. credit outlook sparked broad-based selloffs across Asian markets,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

U.S. bond yields breached the 5% mark while Japanese bond yields surged to 3.5% which prompted sell-off in riskier assets and emerging markets like India.

“Indian equities followed their global counterparts and witnessed major sell-off after a sharp spike in U.S. and Japanese bond yields made investors risk averse towards equities,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.33% while smallcap index went up by 0.17%.

Among sectoral indices, energy dropped the most by 1.25%, followed by FMCG (1.25%), BSE Focused IT (1.19%), oil & gas (1.13%), IT (1.09%) and auto (0.87%).

Telecommunication and services were the gainers.

As many as 2,178 stocks declined while 1,741 advanced and 167 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng settled lower. Markets in Europe were trading in the negative territory.

U.S. markets ended sharply lower on Wednesday (May 21, 2025). Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.37% to $64.02 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Wednesday (May 21, 2025) after a day’s breather. They bought equities worth ₹2,201.79 crore, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark jumped 410.19 points or 0.51% to settle at 81,596.63 on Wednesday (May 21, 2025). The Nifty climbed 129.55 points or 0.52% to 24,813.45.