Key stock market indices dropped 2 per cent on Thursday, weighed down by a broader market selloff, as investors dumped risky assets on worries over stubborn inflation and economic slowdown.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 1.95 per cent at 15,924, with all its major sub-indexes in the negative territory, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 2.11 per cent to 53,067.39 in the early trade.

Broader Asian equities tumbled after a sell-off in U.S. indexes overnight, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 dropping 3 per cent as a rally in growth shares faded amid slowdown concerns.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan snapped its four-day winning streak to slump 2.3 per cent.

Aluminium and copper producer Hindalco Industries and software services provider Infosys were the top percentage losers in the Nifty 50, falling 3.9 per cent each.

Shares of ITC rose 1.3 per cent to be the sole gainer in the Nifty 50 index after the cigarettes-to-hotel conglomerate on Wednesday reported an 11.8 per cent rise in its March-quarter profit.

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