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Benchmark indices closed 1 per cent lower on Thursday amid volatility after four consecutive sessions of gains.
Market opened on a negative note amid weak global cues as US Fed’s hawkish stance, rising US yield and volatile rupee impacted investor sentiments. Indices slumped further during the day, witnessing selling across multiple counters.
The BSE Sensex closed at 59,601.84, down 621.31 points or 1.03 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 59,781.86 and a low of 59,290.58. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,745.90, down 179.35 points or 1 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 17,797.95 and a low of 17,655.55.
Breadth remains positive
The market breadth, however, remained positive with 1,981 stocks advancing on the BSE as against 1,401declined while 90 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 677 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the 165 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 421 stocks touched a 52-week high and 11 touched a 52-week low.
S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities said, “The day witnessed a gap-down opening on the back of weak global cues and hawkish FOMC minutes which saw the US 10-year yield rising to 1.7 per cent.”
“Bulls were a bit restrained on the back of rising Covid cases and its impact on the fourth quarter corporate performance since it happens to be an important quarter for India Inc. The IT & Oil & Gas Index led the fall today with cement stocks too witnessing profit taking,” Ranganathan said.
UPL, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel and Maruti were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while JSW Steel, ultratech Cement, Shree Cement, Tech Mahindra and Adani Ports were the top laggards.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, “Following a sharp fall in western markets, the domestic market witnessed a gap-down opening and extended its losses led by selling in IT, realty and oil & gas shares.”
“Global markets were wounded by heavy selling as Fed meeting minutes pointed to a faster than expected policy rate hike considering elevated US inflation levels. Investors are also watching the fast spread of Covid cases and stricter restrictions being imposed as it would keep the market highly volatile in the coming days,” said Nair.
Auto, PSU Bank, Consumer Durables gain
On the sectoral front, a majority of indices closed in the red. IT, realty, financials, metals and pharma dragged while auto, PSU Bank and consumer durables managed to retain gains.
Nifty Auto was up 0.53 per cent at closing while Nifty PSU Bank was up 0.48 per cent. Nifty Consumer Durables closed 0.49 per cent higher.
Meanwhile, Nifty IT was down 1.55 per cent while Nifty Realty was down 1.47 per cent. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were down 0.55 per cent and 0.88 per cent, respectively. Nifty Private Bank was down 0.42 per cent.
Nifty Metal and Nifty FMCG were down 0.50 per cent and 0.76 per cent, respectively. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index were down 0.63 per cent and 0.69 per cent, respectively.
Broader indices
As for broader indices, Nifty Midcap 50 closed 0.30 per cent higher while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 0.14 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.05 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap closed flat, up 0.01 per cent.
The volatility index rose 4.35 per cent to close at 17.98.
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