Monday, December 23, 2024 | 09:58 PM ISTEN Hindi

Sensex falls 571 pts, Nifty ends below 17,150; metals shine, FMCG bleed

About 26 counters ended in the red on the Sensex led by PowerGrid, Ultratech Cement, Asian Paints, HUL, HCL Tech, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, and Axis Bank

SI Reporter New Delhi

Market LIVE: Sensex sheds 600 pts, Nifty near 17,100; Asian Paints slips 3%

CLOSING BELL

Asian markets, including India, snapped their 2-day winning streak and ended lower on Monday as the Russia-Ukraine conflict failed to de-escalate despite several rounds of talks between the two nations.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex had opened about 160 points higher but it quickly erased gains to trade flat. However, the selling intensified in the second half of the session bogged down by financial, auto, and FMCG players.

The 30-pack index, eventually, ended 571 points lower at 57,292 levels. About 26 counters ended in the red on the index led by PowerGrid, Ultratech Cement, Asian Paints, HUL, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, L&T, and M&M. All these stocks declined between 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 slipped 169.45 points to shut shop at 17,118. It had hit an intra-day high of 17,353 and a low of 17,096.

Energy-linked stocks, including Coal India, Hindalco, UPL, Tata Steel, and NTPC, were among the top gainers today, rising upto 3.3 per cent. They were supported by HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Cipla, and Titan.

The trend in the broader market was mixed with the BSE MidCap index ending 0.7 per cent down while the BSE SmallCap index added 0.4 per cent. In comparison, the frontline indices fell 1 per cent.

Individually, shares of Dodla Dairy surged 19 per cent to Rs 548 on the BSE in Monday's intra-day trade after the company announced acquisition of dairy products company Sri Krishna Milks Private Limited for a cash consideration of Rs 50 crore. READ MORE

Shares of Greaves Cotton moved 6 per cent higher to Rs 187.50 on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade, having rallied 15 per cent in the past two trading days, on the back of heavy volumes after the company entered into a pact with Bounce Infinity to provide battery swapping stations for Greaves Electric Vehicles. READ MORE

On the flipside, shares of Kishore Biyani- led Future Group companies continued to be under pressure on Monday. Most of the Future Group listed companies traded at their all-time lows after they informed exchanges that the Group has called for a meeting with their respective shareholders and creditors meetings on April 20 and 21 over approval of Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance Retail. READ MORE

Overall, sellers outnumbered buyers on the BSE with 1,561 stocks ending in the green as against 1,965 stocks that closed in the red.

Sectorally, only the Nifty Metal and Media indices ended in the green, inching up 1.3 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively. The top laggards were the Nifty FMCG index, down 2 per cent, and the Nifty PSU Bank index, down 1.5 per cent.

Global markets
European stocks were little changed on Monday as pressure from the Russia-Ukraine war continues to weigh on global sentiment. The pan-European Stoxx 600 inched 0.2 per cent higher in early trade, with basic resources gaining 1.8 per cent while tech stocks slid 0.9per cent.

On Wall Street, though, futures linked to main indices were sharply higher. The Dow Jones Futures were up 0.3 per cent; S&P500 Futures added 0.8 per cent; and Nasdaq Futures rose nearly 2 per cent.

Earlier in Asia, South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.77 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.9 per cent, and China's CSI300 eased 0.2 per cent.

4:09 PM

Technical View: Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

Nifty witnessed a pullback as it failed to sustain above the crucial resistance of 17330. On the lower end it slipped towards the 200DMA. On the daily chart, a bearish engulfing pattern has formed. Going forward, the Nifty may remain volatile as long as it remains below 17330. A decisive move above 17330 may induce a decent rally. On the lower end, crucial support is pegged at 17000.

4:08 PM

Market view: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

With no significant improvement in the tensions between Russia & Ukraine and uncertainty in Gulf region, crude prices surged leading to a sell-off in the domestic market after the recent rally. FII’s coming back to buying mode is a positive for domestic equities but rise in bulk diesel prices & inflationary pressure is bending the domestic market. Accenture's positive earnings and strong guidance have helped Indian IT companies to be in demand, however, late selloff was witnessed.

4:04 PM