Benchmark indices closed one per cent lower on Tuesday amid broad-based selling.
The BSE Sensex closed at 55,107.34, down 567.98 points or 1.02 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 55,387.77 and a low of 54,882.41. The Nifty 50 closed at 16,416.35, down 153.20 points or 0.92 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 16,487.25 and a low of 16,347.10.
Over 2,000 stocks decline
The market breadth remained negative with 2,011 stocks declining on the BSE as against 1,286 that advanced while 121 remained unchanged. Furthermore, six stocks hit the upper circuit, while six stocks were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 62 stocks touched 52-week high level and 70 touched 52-week low.
Rising oil prices, continued FII selling and concerns regarding rate hikes ahead of RBI monetary policy outcome has been weighing in investor sentiments.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd said, “Investors are in a wait and watch mood ahead of the RBI’s credit policy announcement, although several economists believe the MPC will hike rates further to tame inflation. The market has simply borne the brunt of unabated FII selling, which continues to desert Indian equities amid weakening rupee and strengthening dollar.”
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, “The volatility in the market is forcing investors to stay sidelined ahead of the RBI’s policy announcement. The market has factored a hike up to 50bps of repo rate & CRR, but any further stricter measures to clamp liquidity due to lingering inflation will have ramifications on the market trend.”
“Apart from the monetary measures, the RBI’s guidance on growth and inflation forecast will determine the market trend,” added Nair.
ONGC, Coal India, NTPC, Maruti and Hero Motocorp were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Titan, Dr Reddy’s, UPL, Britannia and L&T were the top laggards.
Sectoral indices
On the sectoral front, all indices except Nifty Oil & Gas were in the red. Nifty Oil & Gas was up nearly one per cent at closing.
Meanwhile, Nifty Consumer Durables was down over 2 per cent, while Nifty Realty was down nearly two per cent. Nifty IT was down 1.57 per cent, while Nifty FMCG closed 1.54 per cent lower.
Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index were each down over one per cent.
Broader market
Broader indices closed in the red. Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0..72 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 0.52 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.77 per cent, while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.67 per cent.
The volatility index rose 1.10 per cent to 20.43.