New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) Domestic equities plunged 2 per cent amid a weak environment globally and a selloff in HDFC Bank,Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said.

Nifty saw a sharp decline as selling intensified during the day and closed with a loss of 460 points (-2.1 per cent) at 21,572 levels. Barring IT, all sectors ended in red amid heightened volatility, he said.

Banking sector took the biggest hit with Nifty Bank down 4 per cent as Q3 results of HDFC Bank showed stagnant growth for the company, he added.

After making a recent fresh high above 22,000 levels, Nifty saw a steep fall and turned weak in the near term impacted by negative global and domestic cues.

Hawkish Fed commentary, escalating tension in the Middle East, and a spike in bond yield spike dented investor sentiment, he said.

The Sensex was down 1,628 points, or 2.23 per cent, at 71,500 at the closing, while the Nifty was down 460 points, or 2.09 per cent, at 21,571, said Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.

Ever since the merger, HDFC Bank's asset book has grown tremendously but deposits haven't.

The average quarterly net deposit growth for 9M FY24 stood at Rs 63,600 crore, much lower than the guided Rs 1 lakh crore, he said.

In its deepest plunge in three years, the HDFC Bank stock tanked over 8.44 per cent on Wednesday, in a market disappointed by the flat margins posted by the country's largest private lender for the Q3FY24.

HDFC Bank's asset book has grown tremendously but deposits have not.

These factors fueled pessimism in stock. HDFC Bank has major contribution in Nifty that brought stress in the index and overall market, he said.

HCL Technologies, SBI Life Insurance, Infosys, LTIMindtree, and TCS were the top gainers on the Nifty, while the biggest losers were HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, and Hindalco Industries.

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