Bears kept their grip on the market with the benchmark indices ending lower on Thursday.

The market opened on a negative note amid weak global cues and extended losses through the day, with multiple counters witnessing a heavy sell-off, especially heavyweight financials. Metals managed to retain gains.

The BSE Sensex closed at 59,919.69, down 433.13 points or 0.72 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 60,293.25 and a low of 59,656.26. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,873.60, down 143.60 points or 0.80 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 17,971.35 and a low of 17,798.20.

Decliners outnumber

The market breadth turned in favour of the decliners with 1,859 stocks declining on the BSE, 1,432 advancing and 154 remaining unchanged. Furthermore, 367 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to 183 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 208 stocks touched a 52-week high and 24 touched a 52-week low.

Global inflationary pressure following higher US inflation data has impacted investor sentiment.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Global inflationary pressure following the upsetting US inflation data, forced the domestic market to trade with deep cuts. Beating the market estimates, US inflation hit a 30-year high of 6.2 per cent YoY, adding fears of an earlier than expected rate hike, while US bond yields shot higher. Rising inflationary pressure, along with prospects of an early rate hike, can keep the domestic market on edge as such indicators tempt foreign investors to pump out liquidity from emerging markets like India."

Narendra Solanki, Head-Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers said, “The Indian markets opened on a negative note following mixed Asian market cues and higher than expected inflation data reported in the US, raising concerns of an earlier-than-expected hike in interest rates in the world's largest economy.”

“Also, continuous foreign fund outflows subdued traders’ sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 469.50 crore on Wednesday. They have sold equities worth Rs 5,515 crore so far this month,” added Solanki.

Titan, Hindalco, JSW Steel, TCS and Mahindra & Mahindra were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while State Bank of India, ONGC, SBI Life, Bajaj Finserv and Tech Mahindra were the top laggards.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said, "Weak global cues, led by rising CPI in the US, spooked markets as fears of the FED being behind the curve seem to worry the street. Back home, most of the sectoral indices traded weak today, but it is interesting to note that even on a weak day, the street did reward companies with a positive earnings surprise, a key feature witnessed during the second-quarter earnings season.”

Metals shine

On the sectoral front, all indices except Nifty Metal and Nifty Consumer Durables, closed in the red.

Financials and realty witnessed increased pressure. Auto and pharma also dragged.

Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were down 1.19 per cent and 1.25 per cent, respectively. Nifty Private Bank was down 0.93 per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank was down 1.84 per cent. Nifty Realty was down 2.33 per cent.

Nifty Auto was down 1.18 per cent. The Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index closed 1.39 per cent and 1.24 per cent lower, respectively.

Meanwhile, Nifty Metal closed 0.36 per cent higher, while Nifty Consumer Durables was up 0.26 per cent.

Broader indices

The broader indices also closed lower. The Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.95 per cent at closing, while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 1.14 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.64 per cent, while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.54 per cent.

The volatility index rose 0.29 per cent to 16.35.

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