Sensex, Nifty fall for 4th day dragged by metal, pharma stocks

NEW DELHI: Selling continued for the fourth session on Monday, pushing benchmark indices further lower as the situation remained critical on the Ukraine-Russia border with increased shelling by separatists.

While bank and financial stocks provided some support to the indices and checked the losses, metals, pharma and realty stocks led the losers’ chart.

The 30-share pack Sensex declined 149.38 points or 0.26 per cent to close at 57,683.59. Its broader peer NSE Nifty dropped 69.65 points or 0.40 per cent to 17,206.65.


Market at a glance:

• InterGlobe Aviation fell 2% as Rakesh Gangwal exited the board
• Hinduja Global Solutions added 2% as UK arm bagged Rs 2,100-crore contract
• Indiabulls Group stocks plunged up to 20% as ED raided office
• India VIX, barometer of future volatility, advanced over 3%
• Paytm declined 3% despite ICICI Sec initiated coverage with ‘buy’

“Domestic indices started weak taking cues from negative global peers but in between recouped most of its losses on reports of a likely meeting between Biden and Putin over the Ukraine issue. However, the market could not stretch the direction and turned negative as uncertainty in the global markets continued,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

“The market is expected to be volatile due to the upcoming Fed meeting and state election results.”

Among the bluechip names, Wipro was the biggest gainer, rising 1.68 per cent.

Infosys, Shree Cement, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki and Nestle India were other major gainers.

Hindalco Industries was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 3.38 per cent. UPL, Divi’s Labs, Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Grasim Industries and TCS were other names that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended lower, underperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap fell 2.73 per cent and Nifty Midcap dropped 1.24 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended down 0.77 per cent.

Vodafone Idea, Coforge, Federal Bank, Kalpataru Power, SpiceJet and Wockhardt were top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 1-5 per cent.

ICICI Securities, Bharat Heavy Electric, Adani Total Gas, BEML, PNB Housing Finance and Burger King were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 4-9 per cent.

The sectoral matrix on the NSE was mixed. Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank ended the day with marginal gains, while Nifty Media, Nifty Metal, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty were among the top losers.

Markets are in wait and watch mode in line with global peers and closely monitoring the Russia-Ukraine crisis for cues. We recommend limiting positions and keeping the existing hedged until the markets stabilise.

-Ajit Mishra, Religare Broking

Market breadth was in favour of losers as 710 stocks ended in the green, while 2,778 names settled with cuts. 127 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 119 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space.

About 225 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 555 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading mixed. London-based FTSE added 0.13 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt added 0.69 per cent and fell 0.26 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Singapore and Indonesia rose while others ended in the red.