Sensex drops over 450 points; SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank top drags

The Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in noon deals on the back of selling pressure in heavyweights like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The Sensex fell as much as 455 points to hit an intraday low of 74,119.39 and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 22,366.

As of 12:20 pm, the Sensex was down 419 points at 73,730 and Nifty 50 index declined 103 points to 22,391.

Selling pressure was broad-based as 10 of thirteen sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Media index's 2 per cent gain. Nifty Metal, Bank, Auto, Financial Services, PSU Bank, Private Bank and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.5-1 per cent.

Small-cap shares were facing intense selling pressure as Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.6 per cent after Sebi said there may be pockets of irrational exuberance in markets, referring to concerns over stretched valuations of small and mid-cap shares.

State Bank of India shares were among the top Nifty losers after the Supreme Court rejected its plea seeking more time to share details of individuals and companies who bought its controversial electoral bonds to fund political parties.

The court said the information sought by the court is readily available with the bank and it should be shared with the Election Commission of India (ECI) "by close of business" on Tuesday.

Shares of several Tata Group companies came under heavy selling pressure after reports suggested that Tata Sons' listing appeared improbable in the near term.

Shares of Tata Chemicals, which surged as much as 40 per cent last week, dropped 10 per cent to of Rs 1,189. Tata Steel fell 2.35 per cent, Tata Motors declined 1.05 per cent, Titan Company dropped 0.2 per cent, Tata Power declined 2.4 per cent, Indian Hotels declined 1.7 per cent, Tata Consumer Products dropped 4 per cent, Tata Communications declined per cent, Voltas fell 1.5 per cent, Tata Investment Corporation declined 5 per cent, Nelco fell 2.88 per cent and Tata Technologies declined 3.39 per cent.

Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and ONGC also fell between 1-2 per cent.

On the flipside, Nestle India was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 2.1 per cent to Rs 2,614. Bajaj Finserv, Cipla, HCL Technologies, Dr Reddy's Labs, Apollo Hospitals Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,849 shares were declining while 1,007 were advancing on the BSE.