D-Street: Sensex, Nifty plunges in early trade – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, declined in early trade on Monday. Sensex was down by 103.34 or 0.14% to 72,540.09 while Nifty was at 21,977.45.
Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, M&M, NTPC, Bajaj Finance are among the top gainers in Sensex whereas SBI, Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI bank are top losers.
Sensex and Nifty experienced a decline of over half a per cent on Friday, following significant losses in oil and gas, auto, and energy stocks due to continuous foreign capital outflows.Traders mentioned that concerns surrounding mid and small-cap stocks further impacted investor sentiment and the overall market. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 72,643.43, marking a decrease of 453.85 points or 0.62 per cent from its initial levels. At one point during the day, the benchmark fell by 612.46 points or 0.83 per cent to 72,484.82. The NSE Nifty also saw a drop of 123.30 points or 0.56 per cent, settling at 22,023.35.
Over the week, both the BSE and NSE benchmarks witnessed significant declines. The BSE benchmark recorded a decrease of 1,475.96 points or 1.99 per cent, while the NSE Nifty saw a decline of 470.2 points or 2.09 per cent. Furthermore, the BSE smallcap index plummeted by 2,640.82 points or 5.91 per cent, and the midcap gauge tumbled by 1,602.41 points or 4 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, stated, ‘Cautiousness towards mid & small-caps continued to impact market sentiment, affecting the broader market. However, with the moderation in global commodity prices and the upward revision of India’s GDP for FY25, there is potential for a rebound supported by robust domestic demand once the market stabilizes.’
M&M emerged as the top loser on the Sensex, dropping by 4.75 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, NTPC, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and State Bank of India. Reliance Industries, a heavyweight in the index, also experienced a decline of nearly 1 per cent. On the positive side, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Consultancy Services, and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.
In the broader market scenario on Friday, the BSE midcap gauge saw a slight decrease of 0.51 per cent, while the smallcap index witnessed a marginal increase of 0.25 per cent.
Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, mentioned, ‘Domestic equities mirrored global trends as weak US and Asian markets led to profit-taking, resulting in the selling of auto, oil & gas, banking, and power stocks. The recent subdued economic indicators related to inflation and IIP numbers added to the bearish sentiment.’
Among the sectoral indices, oil & gas saw a decline of 2.24 per cent, energy dropped by 1.95 per cent, auto lost 1.74 per cent, capital goods decreased by 1.25 per cent, consumer discretionary by 0.57 per cent, IT by 0.55 per cent, bankex by 0.50 per cent, and financial services by 0.32 per cent. Conversely, commodities, telecommunication, and services showed gains.
The government approved an electric-vehicle policy aimed at attracting major global players like US-based Tesla, offering duty concessions to companies investing a minimum of USD 500 million in manufacturing units in India. Companies setting up e-vehicle manufacturing facilities will be permitted to import a limited number of cars at reduced customs duty.
In the global market scenario, Asian markets such as Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong closed lower, while Shanghai ended on a positive note. European markets showed marginal gains, and the US markets closed negatively. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,356.29 crore on Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped to USD 84.84 a barrel, and India’s exports in February surged by 11.9 per cent to USD 41.4 billion, marking the highest value in the current fiscal. However, the trade deficit stood at USD 18.7 billion, with imports valued at USD 60.1 billion, a 12.16 per cent increase compared to February 2023.
On Thursday, state-owned oil companies reduced petrol and diesel prices by Rs 2 per litre after almost two years of unchanged rates. The BSE benchmark closed at 73,097.28, up by 335.39 points or 0.46 per cent, while the NSE Nifty gained 148.95 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 22,146.65.



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