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Benchmark indices closed lower amid volatility on Wednesday.
Market started off on a positive note amid mixed global cues but soon turned volatile. Indices erased all gains to close lower, witnessing selling pressure across multiple counters
The BSE Sensex closed at 53,749.26, down 303.35 points or 0.56 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 54,379.59 and a low of 53,683.16. The Nifty 50 closed at 16,025.80, down 99.35 points or 0.62 per cent, near the day’s low of 16,006.95. It recorded an intraday high of 16,223.35.
Over 2,600 stocks decline
The market breadth continued to favour decliners, with 2,611 stocks declining on the BSE as against 717 that advanced while 116 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 17 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the six stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 67 stocks touched a 52-week high and 155 touched a 52-week low.
The volatility index softened 1.37 per cent to 25.28.
Market is likely to remain volatile ahead of the monthly F&O settlement on Thursday. Investors are awaiting the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes later today for clarity on the Fed’s rate-hike path in the near term.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, “Domestic indices wavered, tracking mixed sentiments from the global markets, as investors assessed the possibility of a recession in the US followed by the Fed policy tightening.”
“Global markets are awaiting the release of the Fed minutes, which will be evaluated for details on the path of the upcoming rate hikes. In this whipsaw market, investors can resort to defensives and, value stocks and sector,” Nair added.
Broader market under pressure
The broader market remained under pressure with smallcaps taking a heavy beating.
Nifty Midcap 50 was down 1.83 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 3.99 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 1.93 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 2.94 per cent.
S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities, said, “On a day when the Bank Nifty held steady, the other sectoral Indices led by IT saw intense profit-taking by FIIs, with geopolitical issues and supply-side disruptions taking centre stage.”
“Declines outnumbered advances in the broader market even though measures to rein in inflation were taken to curb exports in sectors which have earned bumper profits. The Midcap and Smallcap 100 Indices today are reflective of the damage done outside the benchmark indices,” Ranganathan said.
NTPC, HDFC Life, SBI Life, Bharti Airtel and ONGC were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Asian Paints, Adani Ports, Divi’s Lab, UPL and Tech Mahindra were the top losers.
Sectoral indices
On the sectoral front, a majority of indices were in the red with IT, metals and realty witnessing increased pressure.
Financials barring PSU Bank managed to retain gains.
Nifty IT was down over 3 per cent at closing. Nifty Realty closed nearly 3 per cent lower while Nifty PSU Bank was down over 2 per cent. Nifty Metal closed nearly 2 per cent lower. Nifty Pharma, Nifty Healthcare Index, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Oil & Gas each closed over 1 per cent lower.
Meanwhile, Nifty Financial Services was up 0.68 per cent.
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