After extending gains for four consecutive sessions, benchmark indices closed in the red on Tuesday due to weak global cues.

Markets, after opening on a negative note, extended losses through the day dragged by financials, metal and IT.

The BSE Sensex closed at 49,161.81, down 340.60 points or 0.69 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 49,304.47 and a low of 48,988.18. The Nifty 50 index closed at 14,850.75, down 91.60 points or 0.61 per cent. It briefly slipped below 14,800 during the day to hit an intraday low of 14,771.40. It touched an intraday high of 14,900.

The breadth of the market, however, remained positive with 1,845 stocks advancing, 1,204 declining and 190 remaining unchanged on the BSE. As many as 476 securities hit the upper circuit and 153 the lower circuit; 349 hit their 52-week high while 30 touched 52-week low.

Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities, said, “Domestic equities corrected today after recording back-to-back gains in last four trading days. Weak cues from global markets and selling pressure across the counters dragged benchmark indices. Rising concerns over inflation globally due to the sharp rise in commodity prices dragged Asian markets. Further, China inflation data also weighed on sentiments. However, domestic benchmark indices outperformed its Asian peers today. “

“While decline in daily caseload yesterday offers comfort, elevated positivity rate and rising Covid-19 cases in hinterlands of the country are expected to weigh on investors’ sentiments and may prevent market to take any decisive up-move,” added Modi.

PSU stocks in focus

PSU stocks, primarily oil & gas stocks were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 today.

Coal India, NTPC, IOC, ONGC and BPCL were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while JSW Steel, Hindalco, Kotak Bank, HDFC and Divi’s Labs were among the top laggards.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, "Rising commodity prices, like international steel price, are at a record high which has instilled a fear in the world market of rising inflation. Global markets are retreating in anticipation of future interest rates hikes, in which the technology sector will be heavily impacted as it has benefitted the most during a pandemic. Indian metal stocks witnessed mild profit booking while buying interest is seen in PSE stocks."

Sectoral and broader indices

A majority of sectoral indices closed in the red. However, Auto, PSU Bank and Realty indices managed to maintain gains even as financials, metal and IT slipped.

Among them, Nifty Financial Services suffered the biggest losses, declining 1.29 per cent. The Nifty Bank tumbled 0.82 per cent. Nifty Metal and Nifty IT were down 0.92 per cent and 0.63 per cent, respectively.

However, Nifty PSU Bank was up 1.12 per cent and Nifty Auto was up 0.22 per cent. Nifty Realty index edged up 0.29 per cent.

Midcap and smallcap stocks continued to outperform the benchmarks.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 0.93 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.67 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.60 while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.80 per cent.

Notably, the volatility index softened 1.95 per cent to 19.83.

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