Nifty closes lower at 16,200; Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and HDFC emerge as top losers

All eyes would be on the US inflation data, which is set to release at 6 pm today.

Market update at 3.30 PM: Indices traded lower throughout the day and Nifty plunged below 16,200. It closed lower by 1.68 per cent while Sensex tanked about 1,016 points. At the end of the day, Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap slipped about 0.83 per cent & 1.10 per cent, respectively.  

Nifty IT and Nifty Financial Services closed lower by 2 per cent each. However, FMCG stocks witnessed some recovery towards the end. Meanwhile, India VIX closed higher by 2.30 per cent.  

All eyes would be on the US inflation data, which is set to release at 6 pm today. Thus, the US market is expected to be volatile.  

Market update at 2.15 PM: Indices witnessed severe sell-off as Nifty tumbled below the 16,200-support level. It is down by 1.78 per cent while Sensex has tanked over 1,060 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap have slipped over a per cent each. 

All the sectors are in red. Financials, IT, and energy witnessed severe profit booking. 

Market update at 11.30 AM: Indices continue to trade lower and Nifty has plunged 1.30 per cent. Nifty Midcap has slipped 0.74 per cent while Nifty Smallcap has lost about 0.87 per cent.  

Nifty Metal is the top underperformer, having slipped 1.92 per cent. Meanwhile, the auto and pharma indices are marginally down.  

Asian Paints, Titan Company, and Power Grid Corporation are the top gainers amongst Nifty stocks while Hindalco, Bajaj Finance & Wipro emerged as the top losers.   

The rupee has hit an all-time low of 77.81 against US Dollar and is likely to remain weak.  

The advance-decline ratio stands at 571:1,301 while the overall market breadth is negative. 

Market update at 9.25 AM: Indices have opened sharply lower and Nifty is down by over a per cent. Sensex has lost over 620 points while the mid-cap and small-cap indices have also slipped about a per cent each.  

All the sectoral indices are in red. Meanwhile, India VIX is flat. 

Pre-market update: Last night, the US markets closed significantly lower just ahead of a key event. The US inflation numbers are set to release on Friday evening while the investors' fear for a higher number was quite observable during the sell-off. Nasdaq plunged over 2.75 per cent while Dow Jones tanked 638 points. 

With this, most of the Asian markets have reacted negatively, and SGX Nifty indicates a gap-down opening of 220 points for Nifty. 

Meanwhile, crude oil prices are at a 13-week high as the Russia-Ukraine war sees no end. Moreover, the ease of restrictions in the Chinese lockdown shall keep demand higher.  

In the last trading session, the FIIs have sold to the tune of Rs 1,512 crore while the DIIs bought about Rs 1,624 crore worth of equity. 

With such a huge gap-down, volatility is expected to persist. Besides, keep a watch on India VIX.