Equity benchmarks were dragged down by heavyweights Infosys and HDFC twins amid a weak trend in Asian markets, as the Sensex tumbled 1,172.19 points on April 18.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 57,166.74, down 1,172.19 points or 2.01%. During the day, it fell 1,496.54 points or 2.56% to 56,842.39.
The broader NSE Nifty fell 302 points or 1.73% to end at 17,173.65.
Infosys, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and TCS were among the laggards in the Sensex pack.
In contrast, NTPC, Tata Steel, Maruti, Titan, Nestle, Titan and M&M were among the gainers.
Infosys fell 7.16% after failing to excite investors.
HDFC Bank declined 4.53% to ₹1,398.50 even as the largest domestic private sector lender on Saturday reported a 22.8% jump in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 2022 to ₹10,055.2 crore.
Meanwhile, wholesale price-based inflation rose to a four-month high of 14.55 per cent in March on rising crude oil and other commodities prices due to disruption in global supply chain in the wake of the Russo-Ukraine war. Incentivize RBI to raise interest rates to prevent price rise.
In Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo closed lower. Hong Kong was closed for a holiday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.18% to $111.5 per barrel.
On Wednesday, the Sensex closed at 58,338.93, down 237.44 points or 0.41%. The NSE Nifty fell 54.65 points or 0.31% to end at 17,475.65.
The stock markets remained closed on Thursday on account of Mahavir Jayanti and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti as well as Good Friday on Friday.
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth a net ₹2,061.04 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.