The losing run of the Indian market continued as investors remained away from riskier equities in anticipation of more aggressive rate hikes, inflation and moderate economic growth.
Worries persisted for the market and market participants say there is no respite for the market in the near term. While the short-term factors such as rate hikes and quarterly earnings are keeping the market low, the long-term view is also not bullish due to the anticipation of moderate global growth thanks to prolonged elevated inflation, the ongoing Ukraine war and lockdowns in China.
Sensex opened 160 points lower at 54,309 and traded volatile during the day, eventually closing at 54,364.85, down 106 points, or 0.19 percent. Nifty50 settled at 16,240.05, down 62 points, or 0.38 percent.
As many as 18 stocks ended in the red in the Sensex index while 12 stocks settled with gains.
Shares of Hindustan Unilever (up 3.24 percent), Asian Paints (up 2.46 percent), IndusInd Bank (up 2.40 percent), UltraTech Cement (up 2.22 percent) and Maruti (up 2.14 percent) remained the top gainers in the Sensex index.
On the flip side, shares of Tata Steel (down 6.95 percent), Sun Pharma (down 2.74 percent), NTPC (down 2.33 percent), Titan (down 2.15 percent) and Bajaj Finance (down 1.80 percent) ended as the top laggards.
Mid and smallcaps suffered more as the BSE Midcap index closed with a loss of 1.98 percent while the smallcap index fell 2.11 percent.
The overall market capitalistion of BSE-listed firms dropped to ₹248.34 lakh crore from ₹251.91 crore in the previous session, making investors poorer by ₹3.6 lakh crore in a single day.
Nearly 150 stocks, including Nestle, Dabur, Amara Raja Batteries, Future Retail, HDFC AMC and IDFC First Bank, hit their 52-week lows on BSE.
Among the sectors, the BSE Metal pack plunged 5.62 percent, followed by Utilities and Power indices, both falling more than 4 percent. Bank (up 0.57 percent), finance (up 0.30 percent) and FMCG (up 0.26 percent) indices ended in the green.
Crude oil prices eased and Brent Crude traded below the $105 a barrel mark which helped the rupee to end the day 14 paise higher at 77.33. India's 10-year bond yield eased 2.26 percent to close at 7.3 percent.
"The resistance of Indian market has started to move in tandem with the world market. The support from DII & retail investors is reducing after the heavy selloff unsteadying their optimism. A fall in financial liquidity is expected to slow down the economy and the pricing of equities. Oil prices are declining further on worries of Chinese lockdown, rising dollar and risk of recession. Metal stocks are losing their shine as the sector’s outlook is turning negative due to persisting margin pressures," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking reiterated his bearish stance on the markets, in absence of any positive trigger.
“Participants shouldn’t read much into a single-day rebound and wait for some decisive reversal signal. Besides, stability on the global front is equally critical for any sustained move. Meanwhile, since most of the sectors are trading under pressure, the focus should be on stock selection and using intermediate rebound to create shorts,” said Mishra.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies and not of MintGenie.
