Sensex slides by 340 points, Nifty under 25,100; Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Adani Enterprises lead fall

The Indian equities opened in the negative terrain, tracking weakened global cues, which comes after the US U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell remarked that the "equity prices are fairly highly valued". 

At the time of reporting, Sensex was down by 340 points, or 0.41%, at 81,763, whereas the Nifty50 declined by 0.4% to 25,069. 

On the Nifty50 index, 13 stocks advanced, and 37 declined, whereas on the Sensex index, 10 stocks gained, and 20 emerged as losers. 

Key laggard dragging the indices was Tech Mahindra, sliding by nearly 2%, while Tata Motors and Adani Enterprises followed, coming down by 1.46% and 1.17%, respectively. 

Tata Motors' downswing is due to Jaguar Land Rover, the British premium subsidiary extending its pause on manufacturing till October 1.Adani Enterprises saw profit booking after soaring 10% in the past five sessions. 

Meanwhile, top gainers in the early hours of trade were Maruti Suzuki, Eicher Motors, and JSW Steel. Maruti Suzuki continued its rally for the second session, rising by 1.18% after it recorded fresh highs of ₹16,375 in yesterday's trade. Eicher Motors, too, fuelled by festive demand saw a rise in its share price by nearly a percent. 

In the broader markets, all indices were trading in the red, with Nifty Midcap 50 dwindling by 0.42% and Nifty Smallcap 50 by 0.07%. 

Amongst sectors, all except Nifty PSU Bank was trading in the green. The PSU bank index outperformed its peers by more than 1%. Even Nifty Metal was flat, marginally up by 0.02% only. Auto and FMCG, the top gainers which maintained cushioning, too were in the red.

Investors maintain caution in today's trade as they would be keeping a track of developments in the on-going US-India trade deal. 

Powell's remarks shook both the US and Asian equities, as the Wall Street settled on a low after tracking positive cues from the rate cut decisions. Even Asian markets reflected similar sentiments, ending lower as sell.