Sensex trims losses, ends 176 pts lower led by IT, metals; Banks shine

CLOSING BELL: The key benchmark indices ended lower for the seventh straight trading day. The Sensex has shed 2,032 points, while the Nifty 50 has declined 643 points in this period.

Stock Market Highlights: The key benchmark indices extended losses for the seventh straight trading session owing to weakness in auto, IT and metal stocks. The markets eventually ended off the day’s low as banking shares bucked the trend and finished with smart gains.

The S&P BSE Sensex started the day on a wobbly note at 59,331 amid sour global cues, and tumbled to a low of 58,938. Similarly, its counterpart dipped below the 200-DMA, an important technical indicator, to hit a low of 17,299. 

The Sensex eventually ended the day with a loss of 176 points at 59,288, and in the process has now shed 2,032 points in the last seven straight trading sessions. The Nifty 50 signed-off with a loss of 73 points at 17,393, and has declined 643 points in the same period. Technically, the index did manage to close above the 200-DMA which stands at 17,376.

Also read: Nifty Midcap index dips below 200-DMA; remain on sidelines, analysts advise

"Bears continued to wreak havoc in the domestic market as the latest data releases from the US heightened the existing worries of aggressive rate hikes. The personal consumption expenditure in the US, which is Fed’s key monitorable of inflation, increased in January, pressuring investors to stay away from equities markets. The US dollar index surpassed 105, adding further pressure on the INR", Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said in a note.

Among the Sensex 30 shares, banking majors led the recovery – ICICI Bank jumped over 2%. Kotak Bank and SBI were the other prominent gainers. PowerGrid Corporation and NTPC also finished with significant gains.

On the other hand, Tata Steel cracked 3 per cent. Infosys, Tata Motors, TCS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and HCL Technologies were the other major losers.

Also read: Retail investors are nervous; expect time-wise correction: Prakarsh Gagdani

The broader indices ended with deeper losses. The BSE Midcap index was down 0.7 per cent, dragged MphasiS, Zee Entertainment, Rajesh Exports, PolicyBazaar and Adani Power. The Smallcap index plunged 1.3 per cent. Uflex down over 15 per cent following the IT raid was the top loser. The stock hit it's lowest level since May 202. READ MORE

The overall breadth too was also extremely negative – with nearly 2,600 stocks declining on the BSE as against 950-odd advancing shares.

Sectorally, the BSE IT index sank 2 per cent. The Auto and Metal indices were down around 1.5 per cent each. On the other hand, BSE Bankex surged a per cent.

Rout in Adani Group shares continues…

Adani Group shares had another disappointing day on the Street. Shares of the flagship firm Adani Enterprises tanked over 9 per cent. Adani Power, Adani Green, Adani Transmission, Adani Wilmar, Adani Total Gas and NDTV were all locked at the 5 per cent lower circuit. Adani Ports was the sole gainer. 

Among others, LIC hit a record low and was down for the seventh straight day. The stock has declined over 14 per cent so far this month. READ MORE

Meanwhile, shares of Paytm gained nearly 2 per cent amid reports that Ant Group was considering to sell some part stake in the fintech to keep its holding within a required threshold. READ MORE

4:41 PM

F&O analysis :: What do OIs in Nifty, Bank Nifty suggest?

Nifty today saw huge call writing at the 17,400, 17,500 and 17,600 strikes with the highest call writers being present at 17,600 indicating the short-term top of Nifty to be at 17,650 odd levels. Another silver lining that can be seen from the OI data is that the 17,500 PE of Nifty in the monthly expiry still has the second highest concentration of OI, signalling that traders are expecting a bounce.

Bank Nifty, on the other hand, saw huge unwinding of open interest in the 40,000 CE and continued to see addition in OI at the 40,000 PE today. The 40,000 PE did not lose any OI even on Friday when Bank Nifty fell as Put writers were confident for this level to hold.

There was massive put writing right from the 39,000 PE strike all the way up to the 40,300 PE strike which made sure Bank Nifty was strong throughout the day. 

From a level point of view, it is important to keep in mind that any rallies that happen in Bank Nifty should be approached with caution until the level of 42,000 is decisively taken out by a bullish closing.

Views by: Rahul Ghose, Founder & CEO – Hedged, an algorithm-powered advisory platform

4:19 PM

Tech View :: 'Nifty Bank remains buy-on-dip pick'

The Bank Nifty bulls came back strong for the lower levels and managed to hold the support of 39,700. The index immediate resistance is at the 40,500 level and if it sustains above it can witness a pullback rally till 41,000 where fresh call writing is visible. The index remains in a buy-on-dip mode as long as the mentioned support is held.

Views by: Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

 

4:12 PM

Comment :: 'US dollar index surpassed 105, adding pressure on the INR'

Bears continued to wreak havoc in the domestic market as the latest data releases from the US heightened the existing worries of aggressive rate hikes. The personal consumption expenditure in the US, which is Fed’s key monitorable of inflation, increased in January, pressuring investors to stay away from equities markets. The US dollar index surpassed 105, adding further pressure on the INR.

Views by: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

4:06 PM

Tech View :: 'Use pullbacks to create fresh short positions'

The Nifty opened on a weak note and witnessed volatile trading action throughout the day. It closed the day on a negative note for the seventh consecutive trading session.

On the daily charts, we can observe that the Nifty has broken the support of the rising support trend line and  also closed below it which is a sign of weakness. The Nifty is hovering around the 200-day moving average (1,7376) which is likely to provide cushion and attract interest from long term investors.

The hourly momentum indicator has a positive divergence along with a positive crossover which indicates that selling pressure is weakening on the downside. After a continuous fall for seven trading sessions, a pullback is possible which is likely till the levels of 17,570 – 17,600. The pullback is likely to just a relief rally and unlikely to result in to trend reversal.

Overall, the downtrend is still intact and any bounce should be used as an opportunity to create fresh short positions. Today, Nifty has achieved our short-term target of 17,350 and hence we are revising it downwards to 17,200.

Views by: Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

 

 

 

3:59 PM

Comment :: 'Prudent to wait for a rebound for creating fresh shorts'

The pressure in banking and financial majors was weighing on the sentiment during the initial phase of correction and now it’s cascading to the other sectors as well. Besides, the fall in the US markets is adding to the pessimism. Amid all, we feel it’s prudent to wait for a rebound for creating fresh shorts citing oversold positions and some resilience in select private banking names.   

Views by: Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking

3:56 PM

BSE Snapshot :: Market breadth extremely bearish; M-Cap at Rs 258 trn

3:53 PM

Bond market :: Yields on 10-year G-Sec harden

3:51 PM

Currency check :: Rupee ends 9 paise weaker

3:49 PM

Buzzing stock :: Olectra Green soars over 30% in 2 days on hydrogen bus unveiling

>> The bus is in partnership with Reliance Industries.

3:47 PM

Buzzing stock :: Mphasis plummets 7% as Citi maintains 'sell' rating

3:46 PM

Buzzing stock :: Weakness in ZEE continues amid insolvency concerns

3:45 PM

Buzzing stock :: SpiceJet erases all intra-day gains; co to raise Rs 2,500 cr via QIB

SpiceJet's board has also agreed to enter into a Business Transfer Agreement with its subsidiary namely SpiceXpress and Logistics Private Limited (SXPL) for transfer of its cargo business undertaking as a going concern, on slump sale basis.

 

Further, the company's board has also approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore within a period of one year.
 

3:43 PM

Buzzing stock :: LIC ends near all-time low amid concerns over investment in Adani group

According to a report, LIC has lost over Rs 20,000 crore of investment value in the Adani Group since January 30. The biggest fall in the value has been in Adani Total Gas and Adani Enterprises. Out of all the Adani Group stocks, LIC holds the maximum in Adani Ports followed by Adani Enterprises and Adani Total Gas. Since January 24, the market value of Adani Group company has fallen by up to 82 per cent.

3:42 PM

Buzzing stock :: Uflex tumbles 15%; I-T dept ends raid after 6 days

According to reports, bogus transactions worth Rs 500 crore have been detected with search at 66 locations, including NCR. Ten shell companies and documents revealing suspicious transactions have also been found.

3:39 PM

SmallCap Heatmap :: Index drops over 1% led by Uflex, Deep Polymers