Sensex Tanks 1172 Pts, Nifty Settles At 17,173; Infosys, HDFC Twins Top Losers
Indian equity benchmarks extended their fall for the fourth consecutive trading session on Monday tracking weak global cues and lower than expected quarterly results for companies like Infosys and HDFC Bank. Commodity prices, inflation fears and the prospects of more sanctions on Russia by the West as the war in Eastern Europe intensifies weighed heavy on investors' sentiments.
The crude prices gained further on Monday, hovering around $113 per barrel. Asian markets were also weak after Chinese GDP growth numbers, hurt by Covid curbs, came in at 4.8 per cent in March quarter. Also on Monday, India's WPI figure for the month of March came in at record 14.55 per cent.
The 30-share pack Sensex declined 1172.19 points or 2.01 per cent to close at 57,166. Its broader peer NSE Nifty settled at 17,173.65, down 302 points or 1.73 per cent.
"On Monday, the market witnessed sharp selloff. Post long weekend, today, the market opened with a gap down and touched the level of 200 day SMA. However, after morning selloff eventually it took the support near 17070/56850 and trimmed some losses. From the day lowest level, the index recovered over130/ 300 points. Among Sectors, IT Index lost the most, shed over 4 percent. Whereas despite weak momentum buying interest was seen in selective Energy and Metal stocks," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.
On the 30-stock index, strong gains were led by NTPC, Tata Steel, and Maruti among others, while Infosys, HDFC twins, TCS and Tech Mahindra were among the biggest losers.
On Nifty50, NTPC, SBI Life, Tata Steel, and HDFC Life made strong gains, while Infosys, HDFC Bank, HDFC, and Tech Mahindra were among the biggest laggards.
HDFC Bank extended losses to an eighth session, slipping 3.5 per cent after it posted March quarter results over the weekend. The bank's net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, contracted due to rise in share of corporate loans and slower growth in credit cards and auto loans, brokerage Jefferies said in a note.
About Rs 2.37 lakh crore were wiped off from the investors' kitty as the market-cap of all BSE listed companies dropped to Rs 269.66 lakh crore from Rs 272.03 lakh crore.
The Indian rupee dropped on Monday to its lowest in nearly a month against the dollar, tracking losses in the stock market and weighed by sharp gains in global crude oil prices. Bond yields pulled back from session highs on short-covering.
"Technically, the Nifty/ Sensex has formed Gapping down Doji candlestick formation which suggests indecisiveness between bulls and bears. Direction wise, post sharp fall, the Nifty is trading near 200- and 50-day SMA. We are of the view that the larger texture is still on the bearish side and fresh pullback rally possible only after 17200/57300 level. Above the same, the pullback rally is likely to continue till 17300-17375/57600-57900. On the flip side, 200-day SMA or 17150/57150 would act as an immediate support zone for the traders. Below the same, the index could retest the level of 17000-16900/57000-56700," said Chouhan.
