Sensex, Nifty End Lower For 3rd Straight Session

The domestic equity markets nosedived on Thursday, 21 October due to weak global markets coupled with caution showed by investors due to rising commodity prices. As a result, the Sensex fell more than 700 points in the day's trade after opening firm on October 21. At the close of trading hours, the BSE Sensex was down 336.46 points at 60,923.50, while the Nifty-50 was down 88.50 points at 18,178.10. 

In the 30-share pack Sensex, 18 scrips ended in the red while only 12 ended in the green. Shares of Asian Paints saw a drop of over five percent post the Q2 earnings announcement while index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell over two percent thereby impacting the overall market decline.

Meanwhile, it was a good day for the banking stocks. Kotak Mahindra stocks witnessed over six percent surge in the day's trade, whereas HDFC and ICICI Bank stocks saw a jump of one percent each. In fact, the Banking, Auto and Financial sectors stood out as the stocks of other major sectors ended in the red. 

The Nifty IT pack fell more than two percent and the Metal pack declined over a percent in the intraday session. Shares of COFORGE and Mindtree dragged the IT index the most, declining more than six percent each.

Experts attributed the downside in the markets to weak Asian markets, rising oil prices, and concerns of inflation across the globe.

Narendra Solanki, Head of Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers, said, "Sentiments got hit as investor concerns increasing as high oil prices may hurting the nascent and fragile global economic recovery and concerns of inflation gaining further foothold."

In the overall market breadth today, 1580 shares advanced, 1627 shares declined, and 130 shares were unchanged.