Sensex, Nifty end firm, but broader market slumps further

Benchmark indices closed in the green after a volatile trading session on Monday, led by IT and financials. However, broader markets remained under pressure through the day.

Market, after opening on a positive note, tracking global cues, remained volatile through the day oscillating between losses and gains. Auto, FMCG metals remained under pressure.

The BSE Sensex, after rising to as high as 55,781.17, closed at 55,555.79, up 226.47 points or 0.41 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 55,240.29. The Nifty 50 closed at 16,496.45, up 45.95 points or 0.28 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 16,592.50 and a low of 16,395.70.

Market breadth weak

There is no respite from selling pressure in BSE mid-and small-cap stocks.

The breadth of the market remained negative as more stocks declined. As many as 2,470 stocks declined on the BSE, as compared to 777 stocks that advanced while 146 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 645 stocks hit the lower circuit as compared to the 244 stocks that were locked in the upper circuit. Besides, 172 stocks touched 52-week high level and 68 touched a 52-week low

Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers, said, “Indian markets started on a positive note following mixed Asian market cues. During the afternoon session markets traded with minor losses on account of selling in frontline stocks."

"Some anxiety also came with India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) statement with its earlier estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 10.1% for the current financial year (FY22) is unlikely to hold due to the speed and scale of Covid 2.0," added Solanki.

HCL Tech, TCS, Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv and ONGC were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Grasim, Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eicher Motors and Bajaj Auto were the top laggards.

IT shines

On the sectoral front, a majority of indices barring IT and financials closed in the red as auto, realty, metals and FMCG remained under pressure.

Nifty IT was up 1.70 per cent. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were up 0.26 per cent and 0.40 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile Nifty Auto was down 1.47 per cent. Nifty Realty was down 0.99 per cent. Nifty Metal was down 0.84 per cent while Nifty FMCG was down 0.28. Nifty Consumer Durables was down 0.37 per cent. Nifty Healthcare Index also erased all gains to close 0.42 per cent lower.

Broader indices underperform

Broader indices closed in the red as midcap and smallcap stocks underperformed as compared to the benchmarks.

Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.71 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 2.19 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.90 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 1.55 per cent.

The volatility index was down 2.35 per cent to 13.69.

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