Sensex tumbles 566 points, Nifty drops 149 points on profit taking in banking, IT shares

International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.93% to $107.6 per barrel

Benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled 566 points to settle below the 60,000-level on Wednesday, dragged down by heavy selling in banking and IT stocks amid weak global trends.

The 30-share BSE barometer tanked 566.09 points or 0.94% to finish at 59,610.41. During the day, it plunged 666.66 points or 1.10% to 59,509.84.

The broader NSE Nifty declined by 149.75 points or 0.83% to settle at 17,807.65.

From the 30-share pack, HDFC Bank, HDFC, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, TCS, M&M, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank were the major laggards.

In contrast, NTPC, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel, Nestle and Larsen & Toubro were among the gainers.

"Domestic equities moved in tandem with United States markets to close lower, fuelled by investors’ expectation of a stricter interest rate hike by Fed," according to Mitul Shah, Head Of Research at Reliance Securities.