Mumbai, Jan 17 (Reporter) The equity market witnessed a bloodbath, as the BSE Sensex on Wednesday plunged 1628.01 pts to close at 71,500.76 a single day fall in 16 months on weak global cues. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell 460.35 pts at 21,571.95. The NSE registered days high and low at 21,851.50 and 21,550.45 pts respectively. The Sensex opened at 71,998.93, down 1130 pts. During the day, it was plummeted 1699 pts at 71,429, days low before closing at 71,500.76 pts from its previous close. The stocks that dragged the market were, Bankex by 4.02 pc followed by Financial Services by 3.76 pc, Metal by 2.86 pc and Commodities by 2.31 pc The Mid Cap eased 1.09 pc and Small Cap by 0.90 pc. In 30 scrips, 5 advanced, 24 declined while one remained unchanged. In scrips, the HDFC Bank was worst hit, fell 8.46 pc to Rs 1586.90, the single day fall since May 4,2020. Although the bank on Tuesday reported 34 per cent net profit year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 16,372 crore in Q3FY24, which was near expectations; but it included a one-time tax rate gain. The investors were not impressed by the outlook on loan growth and margins. HDFC Bank's net interest income (NII) grew 24 percent on-year to Rs 28,470 crore during the quarter, falling below street estimates. The losers were HDFC Bank fell by 8.46 pc followed by Tata Steel by 4.08 pc to Rs 131.65, Kotak Bank by 3.66 pc to Rs 1779.90, Axis Bank by 3.18 pc to Rs 1083.45 and ICICI Bank by 2.85 pc to Rs 980.35. The gainers were HCL Technology by 1.34 pc to Rs 1576.05, TCS by 0.60 pc to Rs 3884.15 and Infosys by 0.55 pc to Rs 1639.90...////...