Sensex skids 306 points; Nifty ends below 10,500

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex tumbled 306 points to end at an over one-month low of 34,344.91 on Wednesday on widespread selling, led by energy and metal stocks.

State-owned oil companies such as HPCL, BPCL, IOC, ONGC and OIL plunged on worries that the government may ask them to share the burden of higher petrol and diesel prices. The 30-share BSE index opened higher at 34,656.63 and advanced to 34,668.47 in early trade.

However, it slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 34,302.89, before finally ending at 34,344.91 -- showing a loss of 306.33 points, or 0.88 per cent. This is its weakest closing since April 19, when the gauge had finished at 34,427.29.

Likewise, the 50-stock NSE barometer Nifty finished below the crucial 10,500 mark at 10,430.35, down 106.35 points, or 1.01 per cent. Intra-day, it shuttled between 10,417.80 and 10,533.55.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1,651.63 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 1,496.83 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.

Global markets traded weak after US President Donald Trump tempered optimism over progress made so far in trade talks with China. US stocks closed lower overnight as uncertainty over trade policy and other geopolitical issues weighed on sentiment.