Selling Continues For Fourth Day With Cruel Bloodbath; Sensex Crashes Over 1000 Pts

The Indian stock Market witnessed a sharp fall in the Wednesday trading session as the benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex continued their decline for the fourth day. Market experts believed that low voter turnout in general elections with absence of fresh cues infused volatility in the market. 

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 index concluded down 345 points at 21,957 with 1.55 per cent dip, whereas the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex plunged 1062 points lower with 1.45 per cent loss at 72,404 levels on the closing bell. 

Nifty Moves

In the Nifty50 index, merely 7 stocks were able to end in the green territory. Hero Motocorp inched highest among the peers with 3.27 per cent gains as the firm posted robust corporate earnings. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and SBI gained more than 1 per cent. 

Conversely, in the laggard segment, 43 stocks declined into the red territory. Larsen & Toubro plunged more than 6 per cent in the session on its Q4 earnings and weak revenue outlook. Asian Pains, BPCL, Coal India and ONGC lost more than 4 per cent. 

Analysts Note

“Markets buckled under relentless selling pressure as investors turned risk averse in the ongoing poll season and further lightened their equity exposure to avoid being caught off guard. As the election season is heating up, investors are trimming their equity exposure at a faster pace, which can be seen from the drubbing that mid and small-caps received. Over the next few weeks, markets could be very volatile with mostly negative bias and we may see traders betting on select stocks, purely based on their fundamentals,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said, "The broader market witnessed volatility, underscoring caution on account of Q4 earnings and general election uncertainties, which led investors to stay on the sidelines."

Sectoral Movement
In terms of sectoral performance, Auto traded with an exception and gained 0.78 per cent on robust auto earnings. However, mass sell-off across the indices was seen as FMCG, Pharma and Metal lost more than 2 per cent. Nifty IT remained muted along with weakness in Banks and Finance. 

The more domestically focussed indices, mid-cap and small-call felt enowmous heat and plummeted 1.85 per cent and 2.83 per cent respectively.

FPIs Selling
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned net sellers in Indian stocks lately. FPIs who continued to remain net buyers for the third month until mid-April, have cumulatively sold stocks worth Rs 8,671 crore during the month, National Securities Depository showed. So far in May, they have sold stocks worth Rs 10,413 crore.