Benchmark indices closed lower for the second straight session on Thursday, led by a fall in banking and finance counters and continuous foreign fund outflows. Sensex ended 304.18 points lower at 60,353.27 after the index failed to hold on to initial gains. During the day, the 30-stock Sensex fell 607.61 points or 1 per cent to 60,049.84. Nifty dipped 50.80 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 17,992.15.
Bajaj Finance shares tanked 7.21 per cent after lower than expected assets under management (AUM) growth in Q3 led to profitbooking in trade today. Bajaj Finserv (5.10%), ICICI Bank (2.22%), Infosys (1.32%), Titan (1.05%) , Power Grid (1.09%) and Axis Bank (0.98% ) were the top Sensex losers.
ITC (1.91%), Hindustan Unilever (1.77%), NTPC (1.75%), Mahindra & Mahindra (1.27%), Nestle (1.22%) and Sun Pharma (1.18%) were the top Sensex gainers.
Market breadth was negative with 1696 shares closing lower against 1777 stocks falling on BSE. 153 shares were unchanged.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, “Globally, investors are digesting the FOMC minutes with stock markets trading lower revealing that the Fed officials’ are determined to tame inflation by maintaining its aggressive stance. Financials led the losses in the domestic market, following dismal business numbers from NBFC leader. Oil prices recovered after falling sharply on fears of a worldwide recession, as investors remain optimistic about long-term demand.”
Consumer durables shares were the top sectoral gainers with their BSE index rising 333.35 points, to 39,722. Top sectoral losers were banking, consumer durables and IT shares with their BSE indices slipping 381 points, 175 pts, and 175 pts, respectively.
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Rohan Patil, Technical Analyst, SAMCO Securities said, “The Nifty-50 index has formed on the daily chart a Falling three-candle stick pattern and which is immediately followed by another bearish candle stick pattern termed as ‘dark cloud cover’, which suggests the bears are in control. The benchmark started its day with a minor gap-up opening of around 50 points, which was indicated by the SGX Nifty. But prices couldn’t hold on to their initial gains and started their lower high lower low journey for the day. Nifty registered its intraday low of 17,892.60 levels and post that recovered smartly in the final hour of the trading session. Presently, the immediate support for the Nifty is placed at 17,900 levels. However, if prices break below this level, then 17,800 – 17,750 will be the fast-forward target for the index. The upper band is capped below 18,200 levels where 21 EMA is placed.”
Top sectoral gainers were auto, capital goods, oil and gas and metals with their BSE indices rising 322 pts, 275 pts, 322 pts and 213 pts, respectively. Market cap of BSE-listed firms settled at Rs 281.95 lakh crore. BSE mid cap and small cap indices rose 83 points and 2 points, respectively.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,620.89 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Previous session
Benchmark indices crashed on Wednesday, snapping a two-day winning run. Sensex fell 637 points or 1.04 per cent to 60,657and Nifty was down 190 points or 1.04 per cent at 18,043. Investors fret over the rising Covid-19 cases in China and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hiking path. Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Wipro, Power Grid, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 2.32%.
Asian markets
Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green. Equity exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in mid-session deals. Markets in the US had ended in the positive territory on Wednesday. International oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.04 per cent to $79.43 per barrel.
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