Benchmark indices fell sharply by nearly 2 per cent each, extending their decline for the third straight session on Friday, amid a bearish trend in global markets. Sensex tanked 1,020.80 points or 1.73 per cent to end at 58,098.92. During the day, it crashed 1,137.77 points or 1.92 per cent to 57,981.95. Nifty plummeted 302.45 points or 1.72 per cent to close at 17,327.35.
Sensex has tanked 1,357 points in the last two sessions after Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 bps to tame high inflation.
Power Grid was the top Sensex loser today, slumping 7.93 per cent followed by Mahindra, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, HDFC and IndusInd Bank. Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and ITC were the only Sensex gainers, rising up to 1.53 per cent.
Mid-cap and small-cap indices on BSE fell 588 points and 564 points, respectively. Banking, capital goods, consumer durables and auto shares were the top sectoral losers with their BSE indices falling 1159 points, 666 pts, 760 pts and 514 pts, respectively.
Share Market News Today Live Updates: Sensex crashes 1,021 points, Nifty settles below 17,350; Mahindra Finance tanks 13%
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said, “Nifty has fallen sharply after an indecisive candle on the daily chart. The sharp fall has led the index below the crucial short-term moving average. The momentum oscillator on the daily timeframe is in a bearish crossover. The trend looks negative, which may take the Nifty towards 17000 over the short term. On the higher end, it has resistance at 17500.”
Market breadth was negative with 983 stocks ending higher against 2,497 stocks falling on BSE. 107 shares were unchanged. Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 276.64 lakh crore against Rs 281.54 lakh crore in the previous session.
Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President – Technical Research, Kotak Securities said, “With the latest round of interest rate tinkering by the US central bank, investors have turned risk averse and are dumping shares at will. Traders are also worried about the escalation in Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is prompting them to exit equities and park funds in safe haven dollar assets. Technically, the Nifty has formed a lower top formation on daily charts and long bearish candle on daily charts which is broadly negative. For positional traders 17500-17600 levels could act as a crucial resistance zone. On the flip side, the 50-day SMA or 17250 would be the important support level. If the index closes below the 50-day SMA, it could retest the level of 17150 and could retreat further till the 200-day SMA or 17000.”
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,509 crore on Thursday, according to data available with the BSE.
Meanwhile, the rupee slumped 19 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 80.98 against the US dollar. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the Indian currency breached the 81-mark for the first time ever and fell to 81.23 against the US dollar.
Previous session
Benchmark indices fell for the second straight session on Thursday, in line with weak global cues following the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike and hawkish stance. Sensex declined 337.06 points to settle at 59,119.72. During the day, it tanked 624 points to 58,832.78. Nifty lost 88.55 points to close at 17,629.80.
Global markets
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower. European bourses were trading in the red in mid-session deals. The US markets ended in the negative territory on Thursday. Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.87 per cent to $88.77 per barrel.