In the last six sessions of losses, benchmarks the Nifty 50 and the Sensex are down about 5 per cent each. The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE has fallen to nearly ₹306 lakh crore from ₹323.8 lakh crore on Tuesday, October 17, making investors poorer by about ₹17.8 lakh crore in six sessions. On Thursday alone, investors lost about ₹3 lakh crore.
There are multiple headwinds that are keeping the market down. While inflation, higher interest rates and the possibility of a recession are the persisting concerns, the Israel-Hamas conflict is also adding to the uncertainty.
Also, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are selling Indian equities amid rising US bond yields and the strength of the dollar index. These combined factors are weighing on market sentiment.
“US Treasury yields were heading back towards 5 per cent on Thursday, dragging shares around the world to multi-month lows in the middle of a busy week for corporate earnings, with an ECB meeting and the release of US GDP to come later in the day,” reported Reuters.
Also Read: US 10-year bond yields near 16-year high. How can it impact Indian stock market?
Nifty 50 today closed with a hefty loss of 265 points, or 1.39 per cent, at 18,857.25 while the Sensex closed at 63,148.15, down 901 points, or 1.41 per cent.
Also Read: Nifty 50 sees significant correction in October; should you chase value or growth stocks in this market?
Mid and smallcaps also suffered losses but the magnitude of their fall was less. The BSE Midcap index ended 1.06 per cent lower while the Smallcap index declined 0.32 per cent.
Over 100 stocks, including UPL, Adani Total Gas, Adani Wilmar, Indraprastha Gas, Gujarat Gas and Atul, hit their fresh 52-week lows in intraday trade on BSE.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices fell over a per cent, dragged by higher US crude inventories and concerns over global economic slowdown. Brent Crude traded near the $89 per barrel mark around 4 pm.
The rupee, meanwhile, fell 4 paise to close at 83.23 per dollar, Bloomberg data showed.
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Top Nifty 50 gainers today
Only four stocks – Axis Bank (up 1.89 per cent), Adani Ports (up 0.34 per cent), HCL Tech (up 0.15 per cent) and Power Grid (up 0.15 per cent) – ended in the green in the Nifty 50 index on Thursday.
Top Nifty 50 losers today
Shares of Mahindra and Mahindra (down 3.89 per cent), Bajaj Finance (down 3.71 per cent), Asian Paints (down 3.59 per cent) and UPL (down 3.39 per cent) ended as the top losers in the Nifty 50 index.
Sectoral indices today
All sectoral indices fell with solid losses today. Nifty Bank fell 1.29 per cent while the Private Bank and PSU Bank indices fell 1.23 per cent and 0.96 per cent respectively.
Nifty Metal (down 1.62 per cent), Auto (down 1.59 per cent), Financial Services (down 1.57 per cent) and Oil & Gas (down 1.50 per cent) ended as the top losers among sectoral indices.
Experts’ views on markets
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities pointed out that in the backdrop of weak global cues, investors shunned local equities at will on the monthly F&O (futures and options) expiry day with benchmark Nifty closing below the crucial 19,000 mark amid a selloff in frontline banking, automobile and IT stocks.
“Investors are worried about the simmering West Asia conflict, economic uncertainty and rate hike woes, and hence maintained their bearish stance for the sixth straight session,” Chouhan said.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said the domestic Q2 results so far have been below par in comparison to the excited earnings forecasted. Similar disappointments are visible in developed economies.
Nair said a downgrade in earnings and valuation is arising due to the risk of further slowdown of the economy due to geopolitical and elevated interest rates. Also, the selling pressure intensified due to expiry-led volatility influencing investors to stay cautious.
Technical views on Nifty 50
A bearish candle on daily charts and weak intraday formation indicate further weakness from the current levels.
“As long as the index is trading below 19,000, the weak sentiment is likely to continue till 18,800-18,725 levels. On the flip side, one relief rally is possible only after the dismissal of 19,000 and above the same, the index could move up to 19,100-19,150,” said Chouhan.
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said the Nifty slipped below 19,000 for the first time in four months, indicating a rising bearish condition.
“The bearish crossover in the momentum indicator also supports the negative momentum. In the current scenario, supports are appearing very fragile and vulnerable. Despite the recent sharp decline, further correction from the current level seems highly possible. Support on the lower end is visible at 18,600-18,645, while resistance is positioned at 18,950-19,000,” said De.
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Updated: 26 Oct 2023, 04:27 PM IST