Sensex slides 354 points, Nifty settles at 11,584

Equity benchmark indices opened with a shaky start on Wednesday and continued to slide through the day as investors traded with caution amid gloomy growth outlook for the global economy.

All sectoral indices except auto, pharma, and realty closed in the red. Banking and financial services suffered the most. The selling pressure was more pronounced during the last hour of trading.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 354 points lower at 38,585 while the NSE Nifty 50 was down 88 points at 11,584.

Among the prominent losers were Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Asian Paints, and Tata Consultancy Services. Those which gained included Tata Motors, Wipro, Adani Ports, and Hindustan Lever.

Meanwhile, Asian shares were mixed after the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday reduced its global economic growth outlook by 0.2 percentage points to 3.3 per cent.

It said the US-China trade war and a messy exit of Britain from the European Union could lead to further cuts to the forecast.

At the same time, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on 11 billion dollars worth of European Union products in a long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies.