Benchmark indices closed over 1 per cent lower on Tuesday amid broad-based selling.

The market started on a weak note tracking negative global cues with Russia escalating its aggression against Ukraine and attacking Europe’s biggest nuclear plant there.. Indices slumped further in the morning trade with heavyweights such as the HDFC twins and Hindustan Unilever recording new 52-week lows. Losses further extended towards the closing with autos, metals and consumer durables leading the fall.

While the Sensex closed at 54,333.81, down 768.87 points (1.40 per cent), the Nifty 50 closed at 16,245.35, down 252.70 points (1.53 per cent). It recorded an intraday high of 16,456.00 and a low of 16,133.80.

Decliners outnumber

The market breadth was in the favour of the decliners with 2,126 stocks declining on the BSE as against 1,228 that advanced while 103 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 15 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the one stock that was locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 88 stocks touched a 52-week high level and 86 touched a 52-week low.

Rising oil prices, inflation concerns and consistent FII selling worried investors. Mitul Shah, Head Of Research at Reliance Securities, said, “The domestic equity markets closed lower as the geopolitical scenario continues to worsen due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Volatility in US equities continues as the Russian invasion entered its second week. Investors remain wary and attempt to gauge how international sanctions could penalise Putin’s regime.”

Dr Reddy’s, ITC, Tech Mahindra, BPCL and Ultratech Cement were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Titan, Maruti, Asian Paints, Hero Motocorp and Tata Motors were the top laggards. 

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said, “Markets have been sharply volatile and the drop in Nifty from its highs is certainly not indicative of the wealth erosion in many retail investor portfolios. Even global equity markets witnessed sharp volatility amid the ongoing Russian invasion and its fallout in the form of sanctions and un-balanced commodity markets. Crude, natural gas and coal witnessed a sharp increase on a week-on-week basis.”

“With earnings season behind us and given the overall sentiments, markets are expected to move in sync with global peers in the coming week. A close eye will be kept on the developments and considering the inflation overhang, market participants will also observe movements in energy prices,” Chouhan said.

IT  in focus

On the sectoral front, all indices except the Nifty IT closed in the red. Autos, consumer durables, realty and metals witnessed increased pressure. Nifty IT was up 0.14 per cent at closing. 

Meanwhile, Nifty Auto was down 3.55 per cent. Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Metal were also down over 3 per cent each. Nifty Financial Services, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Private Bank were each down nearly 2 per cent and the Nifty Bank was down 1.5 per cent. Nifty FMCG and Nifty Oil & Gas, too, closed over 1 per cent lower. 

Broader indices

The case was not very different with the broader markets.

Nifty Midcap 50 was down 2.31 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 1.61 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 2.36 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap closed 1.64 per cent lower. The volatility index softened 0.70 per cent to 27.96.

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