Market crash: Sensex sinks 931 pts, Nifty closes at 21,150 amid profit booking

Posted on by

After opening in record highs, equity benchmarks closed in red on Wednesday. While BSE Sensex lost 930.88 pts or 1.30 per cent to 70,506.31, Nifty declined 302.95 pts or 1.41 per cent to 21,097.45.

The sharp unwinding reflected in mid-cap and small-cap indices too. Nifty Midcap 100 was at 44,024.95, down by 1,487.50 pts or 3.27 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 100 was at 14,407.85, down by 543.35 pts or 3.63 per cent.

All the sectoral indices ended in red. Nifty Energy was down by 884.55 pts or 2.68 per cent, Nifty IT 409.15 pts or 2.28 per cent, Nifty Bank 425.60 pts or 0.89 per cent, Nifty Financial Services 233.20 pts or 1.09 per cent, Nifty Metal 295.10 pts or 3.82 per cent and Nifty Auto 409.15 pts or 2.28 per cent. Only the real estate sector experienced least fall.

On indices performance, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, “The domestic market saw a sharp and abrupt sell-off in the second half, despite the positive trend in global peers. This is attributable to profit booking from the recent sharp rally stretching valuations of mid- and small-cap stocks. The recent uptick in crude prices prompted investors to book profits.”

Within the Nifty pack, Adani stocks declined over 5 per cent—Adani Ports (6.24 per cent) and Adani Enterprises (5.65%). Shares of UPL, Tata Steel, and Coal India fell over 4 per cent.

For every one stock that rose, three stocks fell.

Noting the significant downturn of benchmark indices, Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said, “Looking ahead, there might be a consolidation phase for the Nifty in the near-term. Resistance is expected around 21500, while support is anticipated at 21100.“

Top gainers on the NSE were ONGC (1.87 per cent), Tata Consumers (1.02 per cent), Britannia (0.28 per cent), and Cipla (0.07 per cent).

The stocks that hit 52-week high on the NSE were SAL Steel, Capital Trust, CL Educate, Hindcon Chemicals, Times Guaranty, and Varun Beverages. Stocks that hit 52-week low were India Shelter Finance Corporation, Take Solutions, Pritish Nandy Communications, Coral India Finance and Housing.

On the BSE, 3,921, were traded of which only 661 stocks advanced, 3,175 declined and 85 stocks were unchanged.