Key indices tank as investors resort to offload heavily

Paring Early Gains

• BSE Sensex tanked 670.93 pts or 0.93% to 71,355.22
• During the day, Sensex fell 725.11 pts or 1% to 71,301.04
• Nifty declined 197.80 pts or 0.91% to 21,513
• SBI, ITC, Nestle, Asian Paints, Tech M, M&M, TCS, and HUL were major laggards
• HCL Tech, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Bajaj Finance and Titan among gainers
• Better-than-expected US non-farm payroll data, consequent rise in US 10-yr yield dashed rate cut forecast

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty surrendered early gains to close with deep losses on Monday, snapping their two-day winning streak as investors pared exposure to banking, metal and FMCG stocks amid a weak trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 670.93 points or 0.93 per cent to settle at 71,355.22. During the day, it fell 725.11 points or one per cent to 71,301.04 points. The Nifty declined 197.80 points or 0.91 per cent to 21,513.

“Nifty snapped a two-session rally to end lower after opening with marginal gains. Global stocks slipped on Monday ahead of a busy week of inflation and economic data and amid the diminishing prospect of a cut in US interest rates in the first quarter. Stocks fell ahead of a corporate reporting season where robust results are needed to justify high valuations,” said Deepak Jasani, head (retail research) at HDFC Securities.

“The market witnessed widespread selling as the euphoria over early rate cuts may diminish due to the better-than-expected non-farm payroll data from the US and the consequent rise in the US 10-year yield. In the near term, investors’ trade positions will be more inclined towards the upcoming result season. While the outset may be tempered by lower expectations in the IT sector, the overall forecast for earnings growth remains optimistic, projecting double-digit figures,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.87 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.36 per cent. Among the indices, FMCG fell 1.55 per cent, commodities declined 1.44 per cent, bankex (1.42 per cent), metal 1.40 per cent, financial services (1.05 per cent), telecommunication (0.93 per cent), IT (0.90 per cent) and teck (0.77 per cent). Power, realty and services were the gainers.

Among the Sensex firms, SBI, ITC, Nestle, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, M&M, TCS and Hindustan Unilever were the major laggards. In contrast, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Bajaj Finance and Titan were the gainers.

Investors poorer by Rs2.91 lakh cr

Investors became poorer by Rs2.91 lakh crore on Monday as the BSE benchmark Sensex fell sharply by nearly one per cent amid a weak trend in global markets. The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed companies eroded by Rs2,91,756.23 crore to Rs3,66,40,965.08 crore (Rs366.41 lakh cr).