The Indian equity benchmarks fell for third straight session on Monday dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Bajaj Finance amid weak global cues. The Sensex fell as much as 604 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 18,133.
The Sensex ended 519 points lower at 61,145 and Nifty 50 index declined 148 points to close at 18,160.
Global stock markets sank Monday after Wall Street ended with a loss for the week amid anxiety about Federal Reserve plans for more interest rate hikes to cool inflation.
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London, Frankfurt, Shanghai and Hong Kong fell. Tokyo gained. Oil prices declined.
U.S. stock indexes ended with a weekly loss after a Fed official, James Bullard, rattled investors by suggesting the central bank’s base lending rate might have to be raised to as much as almost double its already elevated level.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.5 per cent to 7,352.63. The DAX in Frankfurt sank 0.3 per cent to 14,385.04 and the CAC 40 in Paris retreated 0.2 per cent to 6,631.30.
On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 was down 0.4 per cent. That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.3 per cent.
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"Participants should see the dip as normal profit taking after the recent surge and we expect the 17950-18050 zone to act as immediate support in Nifty. While we’re seeing a mixed trend across sectors, resilience in the banking space is playing a critical role in capping the damage so far. We recommend continuing with a stock-specific trading approach and maintaining positions on both sides," said Ajit Mishra of Religare.
Back home, twelve of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty IT index's over 1.5 per cent fall. Nifty Metal, Realty, Pharma, Financial Services and Auto indices also ended lower.
On the other hand, PSU Banks, select media and consumer durable shares witnessed buying interest.
Mid- and small-cap shares ended on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index ended marginally lower while Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 0.2 per cent.
Adani Ports was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2.13 per cent to close at Rs 870. Tech Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, Reliance Industries, TCS, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, HDFC, Infosys, Grasim and Wipro also fell between 1.5-2.11 per cent.
On the flipside, BPCL, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, ONGC, Cipla, HDFC Life and Titan were among the losers.
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The overall market breadth was negative as 2,983 shares ended lower while 1,510 closed higher on the BSE.
(With AP inputs)
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