Sensex dips 0.38%, NSE down 0.28% in early trade

BSE Sensex declined 0.38 per cent or 276.01 to 72,001 points, while the NSE Nifty was at 21,669.60, down by 0.28 per cent or 61.60 points in early trade. A total of 3,233 stocks were actively traded, 1,955 advanced, while 1,170 declined and 108 stocks remained unchanged. While 220 stocks hit 52-week high and 6 stocks hit 52-week low at 10 am on Tuesday.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “The 1,000 point rally in the Nifty in the last one month has imparted momentum to the market. Retail investors encouraged by the excellent returns of 2023 have turned exuberant and are chasing stocks, unmindful of the high valuations, particularly in the mid and small cap segments. Investors should not fall into the trap of ‘recency bias’ and chase low grade stocks in the broader market.

“Declining dollar and US bond yields provide a favourable global context for equities. FII inflows in 2024 are likely to be huge and have the potential to lift high quality large-caps, particularly in segments like banking where valuations are fair. An important trend to watch is the spike in the volatility index VIX to 14.5 which indicates that high volatility is round the corner. Yesterday’s sell off in the last 30 minutes is a warning that at higher levels there can be bouts of big selling.“

Major gainers on the NSE at 9:30 am include, Divi’s Lab (2.31%); Tata Consumers (1.75%); Dr Reddy’s (1.62%); Sun Pharma (1.33%); Cipla (1.17%)

Major losers include, Ultratech (-1.29%); Eicher Motors (-0.99%); M&M (-0.97%); Hindustan Unilever (-0.75%); Infosys (-0.73%).