Bears rule D-St for 4th day; Sensex tanks 562 pts in broad-based sell-off

All the sectoral indices ended the day in the red with the Nifty Realty, Metal, and PSU Bank indices dropping up to 3 per cent

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Stock market updates:Domestic equity markets continued to bleed for the fourth consecutive session amid a broad-based sell-off. All the sectoral indices ended the day in the red with the Nifty Realty, Metal, and PSU Bank indices dropping up to 3 per cent. The Nifty Pharma, Private Bank, and Auto indices, meanwhile, skid up to 2 per cent.

At the headline level, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended at 49,802 levels, down 562 points or 1.12 per cent, while the Nifty50 settled at 14,721 levels, down 189 points or 1.27 per cent. In the intra-day trade, the Sensex and the Nifty indices hit a low of 49,719 and 14,696 levels, respectively.

26 of the 30 constituents on the Sensex and 48 of the 50 constituents on the Nifty tanked on the indices today with BPCL, Tata Motors, ONGC, Coal India, Adani Ports, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, IndusINd Bank, and SBI leading the list of losers. All these counters declined between 2 per cent and 5 per cent.

On the upside, only ITC, Infosys, HDFC, and TCS ended the day in the green, advancing up to 1.5 per cent.

Reversing their outperformance over the past few days, broader markets today underperformed their large-cap peers with the S&P BSE MidCap index sliding 2.28 per cent, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index skid 2.12 per cent.

Buzzing stocks

Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services declined up to 5.12 per cent to Rs 969.6 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Wednesday after over 40 million equity shares changed hands via block deal. At close, the stock was quoting 4.4 per cent lower at Rs 977. READ MORE

Shares of Indigo Paints hit their lowest level since listing at Rs 2,375, down 2.8 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday. The stock was trading lower for the fourth straight day, having fallen 5.5 per cent during the period. With four days of decline, the stock of Indigo Paints has corrected 29 per cent from its high of Rs 3,348 touched on February 3, 2021. READ MORE

On the contrary, shares of Vedanta hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 230, up 2 per cent on the BSE, in the intra-day trade on Wednesday after the promoter, Vedanta Resources Plc, raised the open offer price for buying shares in flagship Indian firm to Rs 235 per share from Rs 160 per share earlier. At close, the stock was at Rs 223, down 1 per cent.

Global markets

Asian and European indices dropped on Wednesday as investors waited to see if the US Federal Reserve will signal a faster path toward policy normalisation than previously expected. The US central bank ends a two-day meeting later in the day.

An index of regional equities excluding Japan pulled back 0.5 per cent, led by declines in South Korea’s Kospi. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 was flat to slightly lower, while the broader Topix index bucked the trend to rise 0.1 per cent. In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index edged 0.02 per cent lower.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:05 PM

TECH VIEW :: Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research

The market witnessed a retrace to the support level around the Nifty 50 Index level of 14750. The market's short-term technical conditions are favoring a sideways correction is in the process. While holding above 14750 is the key to prevent further move down, Aggressive traders can use sustaining above 14750 as a buying opportunity. However, below this level market is likely to gain downside momentum and open the gate for a movement until 14540. As such, a strict stop at 14640 is advisable. The momentum is observed indicators like RSI, MACD to stay neutral along with the market breadth, further strengthening the view of a short-term sideways correction.

4:03 PM

TECH VIEW :: Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

Index decisively broke strong support zone of 14750 and closed below same which gives confirmation of breaking its rising trend line which can result in some more pressure in coming sessions if held below 14750 zone. Now on the downside, good support is coming near 14610-14500 zone any break below said levels may give trend reversal signal, resistance is still at 14750-14850 zone above that we may see some swift pull back in index

4:02 PM

MARKET RECAP :: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

Ahead of the FOMC meeting, the Bank Nifty fell for the third consecutive day to drag Indices down almost 1.5% today. Metals and PSU stocks succumbed to profit-taking today. The broader market did witness value-buying by savvy investors expecting an acceleration in the pace of vaccination

4:01 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Indian market remained in negative territory as investors traded cautiously ahead of the US Fed meeting coupled with a resurgence in covid cases. Adding to that, the rise in international crude prices is also dragging the Indian market. Global markets also displayed a weak opening as it awaits the final decision of the FOMC meeting today, which will decide the trend of the market in the short-term. On a consensus basis, an accommodative policy is expected by FED, which will help the global market to stabilize

4:01 PM

IPO Alert :: Laxmi Organics subscribed over 100x till 3:50 PM on last of the issue

3:59 PM

IPO Alert :: Craftsman Automation subscribed 3.5x till 3:50 PM on last day of the issue

3:57 PM

IPO Alert :: Kalyan Jewellers subscribed 99% till 3:50 PM on Day 2 of the issue

3:56 PM

IPO Alert :: Suryoday SFB subscribed 30% till 3:50 PM on Day 1 of the issue

3:54 PM

IPO Alert :: Nazara Technologies subscribed over 3x till 3:50 PM on Day 1 of the issue

3:52 PM

STOCK OF THE DAY :: Indigo Paints hits lowest level since listing in intra-day deals

>> Shares of Indigo Paints hit their lowest level since listing at Rs 2,375, down 2.8 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday. The stock was trading lower for the fourth straight day, having fallen 5.5 per cent during the period. With four days of decline, the stock of Indigo Paints has corrected 29 per cent from its high of Rs 3,348 touched on February 3, 2021

3:50 PM

STOCK OF THE DAY :: SBI Card ends over 4% lower

>> Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services declined up to 5.12 per cent to Rs 969.6 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Wednesday after over 40 million equity shares changed hands via block deal. At close, the stock was quoting 4.4 per cent lower at Rs 977.