Bears push Sensex, Nifty down 3% in 5 sessions; Asian Paints, L&T, IndusInd Bank are Thursday’s top losers

Sensex dipped by 139.18 points to end at 0.23%, while Nifty 50 shed 43.05 points or 0.25% to close at 17,511.25.

Top gainers were Axis Bank, ITC, Tata Motors, SBI, and Tata Steel. While top laggards on Sensex were Asian Paints, L&T, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Titan, and Bajaj Finserv.

On BSE, the majority of sectoral indices witnessed resistance as the upside stood marginal. However, BSE BANKEX surged nearly 92 points, while the Metal index climbed over 143 points. These two were the best performers on Thursday.

However, the gains in banking and metal could not keep bears off the bay as capital goods and consumer durables stocks weighed on the performance. On BSE, the Capital Goods and Consumer Durables index dipped over 291 points and 360.5 points respectively.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, “the equity market traded cautiously between gains and losses as the minutes of the central bank policy meeting revealed concerns over high inflation and its commitment to bring inflation under control.”

Notably, markets were volatile on the February month F&O expiry day.

Ajit Mishra, VP – of Technical Research, at Religare Broking, said, “markets remained volatile on the monthly expiry day and closed marginally lower, in continuation of the prevailing corrective phase. After the flat start, the Nifty index oscillated in a narrow range and finally settled at 17,511.25 levels; down by 0.25%. Mostly sectoral packs traded in sync with the benchmark and ended lower wherein energy, realty, and consumption were among the top losers. Meanwhile, the broader indices showed resilience and ended almost unchanged.”

Bears have held the command of Indian equities for five consecutive days now. From February 17 to date, Sensex has dipped by 1,713.71 points or 2.79% and Nifty 50 has plummeted by 524.6 points or 2.91%.

In terms of the forex market, the Indian rupee closed slightly up at 82.7325 against the US dollar, compared to the previous reading of 82.85 per dollar — which would be its weakest closing level in the current month so far.

Nair added, “in response to the heightened fears of rate hikes, the US 10 yr treasury yield continued to stay high, near 4%. Additionally, the dollar index rose as the greenback cheered over hawkish Fed comments and rising geopolitical tensions.”

Going ahead, Mishra said, “though we may see some respite after the recent fall, the tone is likely to remain negative citing subdued cues. Apart from banking and financials, other sectors are also facing the heat now. Considering the scenario, participants should continue with the “sell on rise” approach until we see some signs of reversal.”

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