Concerns over inflation, rate hikes, a sustained capital outflow of foreign funds, geopolitical tensions and slowing global economic growth continued weighing on market sentiment as the domestic market benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the red for the seventh consecutive session on February 27.
Global cues were mixed; European markets traded with healthy gains but Asian shares hit two-month lows.
Sensex ended with a loss of 176 points, or 0.30 percent, at 59,288.35 while the Nifty50 closed at 17,392.70, down 73 points or 0.42 percent.
Mid and smallcaps underperformed; the BSE Midcap index dropped 0.69 percent while the Smallcap index suffered a loss of 1.28 percent.
The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to ₹257.9 lakh crore from ₹260 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors poorer by ₹2.1 lakh crore in a day.
In the seven sessions of losses, Sensex and Nifty have fallen 3.3 percent and 3.6 percent respectively while investors have lost around ₹11 lakh crore.
As many as 364 stocks, including ACC, Godrej Properties, Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission, Adani Total Gas, Bata India, Laurus Labs, Life Insurance Corporation of India and Muthoot Finance, hit their 52-week lows in intraday trade on BSE on February 27.
Crude oil witnessed volatility amid an improving demand scenario after China reopening and concerns over slowing global markets. Brent Crude traded near the $82 per barrel mark.
The rupee slipped 10 paise to close at 82.85 per dollar.
Top Nifty gainers: Shares of ICICI Bank, Power Grid and Kotak Mahindra Bank ended as the top gainers in the Nifty index.
Top Nifty losers: Shares of Adani Enterprises, Bajaj Auto and UPL ended as the top losers in the Nifty index.
Sectoral indices
Sectoral indices ended mixed. Nifty Realty index jumped 2.18 percent, followed by Nifty Bank, Financial Services, PSU Bank, Private Bank, rising up to a percent.
Among the losers, Nifty Media cracked 3.89 percent, followed by Metal, IT and Auto indices, falling up to 2 percent.
Experts' views on markets
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said bears continued to wreak havoc in the domestic market as the latest data releases from the US heightened the existing worries of aggressive rate hikes.
"The personal consumption expenditure in the US, which is the Fed’s key monitorable of inflation, increased in January, pressuring investors to stay away from equities markets. The US dollar index surpassed 105, adding further pressure on the rupee," said Nair.
Ajit Mishra, VP of Technical Research at Religare Broking underscored the pressure in banking and financial majors was weighing on the sentiment during the initial phase of correction and now it’s cascading to the other sectors as well.
Besides, the fall in the US markets is adding to the pessimism.
"We feel it’s prudent to wait for a rebound for creating fresh shorts citing oversold positions and some resilience in select private banking names," said Mishra.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities underscored weak Asian markets cues and worsening global macroeconomic indicators like higher inflation levels rising interest rates and volatile commodity prices are forcing investors to slash their equity exposure. Besides, currency fluctuation coupled with concerns of slowing growth and FII outflows is also keeping the mood bearish.
Technical views on markets
Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas observed on the daily charts, the Nifty has broken the support of the rising support trend line and also closed below it which is a sign of weakness.
"The Nifty is hovering around the 200-day moving average (17,376) which is likely to provide a cushion and attract interest from long-term investors. The hourly momentum indicator has a positive divergence along with a positive crossover which indicates that selling pressure is weakening on the downside," said Gedia.
"After a continuous fall for seven trading sessions, a pullback is possible, however, it is unlikely to be a trend reversal. Overall, the downtrend is still intact and any bounce should be used as an opportunity to create fresh short positions. Today, Nifty achieved our short-term target of 17,350 so we are revising it downwards to 17,200," said Gedia.
Key market data
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of MintGenie.
