Sensex takes 305-pt hit on P-Note concerns, hawkish Fed

Equities sank the most in three weeks as the BSE Sensex crashed by 305 points to hit a two-week low of 25,399.72 after worries over stricter P-Note norms and a likely June rate hike by the US Fed spooked investors.
Besides, they ignored BJP's electoral victory in Assam for the first time and the party making inroads into Kerala and West Bengal.
The BJP stormed to power in Assam bagging a government in the north east dethroning Congress, which also lost Kerala, while Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee retained power in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal with spectacular victories.
Meanwhile, Sebi chief U K Sinha has said the regulator is in discussions with the industry on tightening Know Your Client mechanism for Participatory Notes (P-Notes) and will take a final decision soon.

From Sensex, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone emerged as the biggest loser by plunging 6.14 per cent to Rs 171.85 after Moody's revised the outlook to 'negative' from 'stable'.
Sun TV fell 13.43 per cent, the most since August, after results showed that DMK failed to win in Tamil Nadu. Owner Kalanithi Maran is considered to be close to top leaders.

"Investors turned skittish after minutes from the US Federal Reserve's most recent meeting indicated that most of its members are ready to lift rates as early as June," said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager - Equities, BNP Paribas MF.

The 30-share Sensex after remaining positive briefly at the outset slipped into the red and touched a low of 25,351.99 before winding up 304.89 points or 1.19 per cent to close at 25,399.72, its weakest closing since May 6.
The 50-issue NSE cracked below the 7,800-mark by falling 86.75 points or 1.10 per cent to 7,783.40.
Selling was also seen in broader markets as BSE mid-cap index and small-cap fell 1.12 per cent and 1.01 per cent.
Bucking the trend, shares of Lupin rose 1.43 per cent to Rs 655.80 after the company posted 47.5 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 807.1 crore.

World stocks edged lower with crude oil after minutes from the Federal Reserve's April policy meeting.
Overseas, Asian indices like China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea fell by 0.02 per cent to 1.33 per cent while Japan was the exception with a marginal rise of 0.01 per cent.
Back home, out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 24 scrips
ended lower.
Major losers were SBI (4.05 pc), L&T (3.24 pc), GAIL (2.71 pc), HDFC (2.61 pc), ITC (2.39 pc), Cipla (2.23 pc), Axis Bank (2.20 pc), ONGC (2.05 pct) and RIL (2.02 pc).
From the gainers pack, Lupin surged 1.43 per cent while Tata Steel rose by 0.70 per cent and Wipro perked up by 0.70 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral and industry indices, capital goods fell by 2.38 per cent followed by FMCG 1.74 per cent, metal (1.61 pc), energy (1.49 pc), finance (1.48 pc), industrials (1.42 pc), telecom (1.35 pc), oil&gas (1.22 pc) and bankex (1.20 pc).
The market breadth remained negative as 1,628 stocks ended lower, 919 closed higher while 169 ruled steady.
The total turnover rose sharply to Rs 5,195.09 crore from Rs 2,613.94 crore yesterday.