CLOSING BELL
Stock market highlights: Equity markets whipsawed in a narrow range on Monday, albeit in the negative zone, as global growth concerns hit investor sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex tumbled over 1,000 points intra-day to hit a low of 57,038, dragged by broad-based sell-off. The Nifty50, meanwhile, gave up 17,000-mark intra-day to hit a low of 16,978.
However, fag-end buying in IT stocks like Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS, Wipro, and Tech M lifted the frontline indices off lows. By close, the BSE Sensex was at 57,145, down 954 points, while the Nifty50 was at 17,016, down 311 points. The indices shed 1.6 per cent, and 1.8 per cent, respectively.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index fell 2.85 per cent, and the BSE Smallcap index declined 3.33 per cent. Overall, less than 700 stocks advanced on the BSE, as against nearly 3,000 stocks that fell on the exchange.
"It seems that Indian markets are now catching up with global markets which have been soft for a month now. The sell-off which began last Friday continues today with the mid/small cap stocks particularly taking it on the chin. The sell-off in the pound, unrelenting rise in the dollar index, weakening rupee and the impending RBI meet in the latter part of this week should keep markets on the tenterhooks. Nonetheless, we continue to believe in the relative outperformance/strength of Indian markets vs emerging/developed economies. We believe one needs to look beyond these current worries and use the bouts of volatility to invest in steady compounding stocks which are in secular businesses," said Vineet Bagri, Managing Partner- TrustPlutus Wealth.
Among sectors, the Nifty IT index was the sole gainer as it gained 0.6 per cent with Coforge, Mphasis, Mindtree, LTI, and LTTS being the additionalo gainers apart from the large-cap stocks.
On the downside, the Nifty Metal, and Realty index fell 4 per cent each, Auto index 3.8 per cent, and Bank index over 2 per cent.
Rupee at historic low
The rupee weakened to a new low against the US dollar on Monday, as the dollar's strength continued unabated amid indications of a longer tightening cycle by the Federal Reserve, dealers said. The domstic currency closed at 81.62 per US dollar today compared with Friday's close of 80.99/$. It touched an all-time low of 81.65 per US dollar during the day.
READ MORE Is the fall overdone?
The selling, technical indicators suggest, has dragged 268 stocks (over half) that comprise the Nifty500 index below their respective 200-day moving average (DMA). For long-term investors, the 200- DMA provides a broad outlook of the underlying trend in a stock or an index. Traders prefer stocks that are above the 200-DMA, since they tend to perform better. That said, the recent selling, analysts believe has been overdone as investors pressed the panic button after the sharp rate hike by the US Fed hiked. The Indian markets, they said, are still a ‘buy on dips’ from a medium-to-long term perspective.
READ MORE  "Sensex falls 954 pts, Nifty below 17,050 amid growth concerns; IT stocks up")
