Benchmark Sensex spiralled lower for the second straight session on Monday and cracked below the key 38,000-mark, with banking and realty counters taking the biggest hit amid a global sell-off triggered by renewed fears of a recession.
The BSE Sensex tumbled 355.70 points to end at 37,808.91 while the wider NSE Nifty plunged 102.65 points to 11,354.25.
The Sensex has now lost over 575 points in two sessions.
ADVERTISEMENT
Investor sentiment dampened after weaker-than-expected economic data from the U.S. and Europe last week stoked fears of a global slowdown. The trade worries between the U.S. and China too added to the worries, brokers said.
Most other Asian markets ended sharply down, while European shares were trading lower in their opening sessions.
Besides, investors preferred to keep their portfolios at a low ebb ahead of fiscal 2018-19 coming to an end, they added.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 30-share Sensex, after opening lower at 38,016.76, stayed in the negative territory through the session and slipped below the 38,000-mark to touch a low of 37,667.40 on mounting selling pressure in sync with the global sell-off.
However, fag-end buying at lower levels trimmed losses to some extent. The benchmark finally ended at 37,808.91 — down by 355.70 points or 0.93%.
The 50-issue NSE Nifty too cracked below the 11,400-mark and hit a low of 11,311.60, before finishing 102.65 points, or 0.90% down at 11,354.25.
Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth ₹657.37 crore, while foreign funds remained net buyers, pumping in ₹1,374.57 crore in Friday’s trade, provisional data showed.
“Lingering concern on global economic slowdown dragged down the domestic indices, the consolidation was broad based where mid and small-cap under-performed. U.S. bond yield has fallen as risk appetite of investors to equities reduced due to fear of U.S. recession.
“Consolidation may extend in the near term. However, domestic macro-economic sentiment remains strong. Stability in oil prices and increase in FII inflow in expectation of earnings revival and formation of stable government reflects the strength of the market,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Vedanta Ltd. was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling 3.28%, followed by Tata Motors at 2.31%.
Other laggards included Yes Bank 2.18%, M&M 2.11%, ICICI Bank 2.07%, HDFC 1.95%, Kotak Bank 1.92%, Sun Pharma 1.91%, Axis Bank 1.78%, SBI 1.44%, RIL 1.26%, L&T 1.21% and Bharti Airtel 1.09%.
HCL Tech, Asian Paints, Hero Motocorp, IndusInd Bak, TCS, Infosys, ITC Ltd., Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, HUL and Bajaj Auto too ended lower with fall of up to 1.04%.
In contrast, ONGC spurted 3.90%, Coal India 2.09%, PowerGrid 1.56%, NTPC 1.19%, Bajaj Finance 0.56% and HDFC Bank 0.15%.
Sector-wise, the BSE realty index emerged as the worst performer by sliding 1.83%, followed by metal 1.30%, bankex 1.29%, teck 1.12%, auto 1.10%, capital goods 0.96%, IT 0.86%, FMCG 0.83%, healthcare 0.48% and consumer durables 0.46%.
On the other hand, oil and gas gained 1.40%, PSU 0.91%, infrastructure 0.70%, PSU 0.47% and power 0.46%.
The broader markets saw investors cutting down their exposure, which pulled down the BSE small-cap index by 1.16% and the mid-cap gauge by 1.06%.
Shares of Jet Airways climbed on reports that the company’s chairman is expected to leave the board of the cash-strapped airline.
Worries over the health of the global economy heightened last week after cautious remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve sent 10-year treasury yields to the lowest since early 2018.
In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei plunged 3.01%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 2.15% and Shanghai Composite Index edged lower by 1.97%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 1.27%, while Korea’s KOSPI tumbled 1.92%. Taiwan too dropped 1.50%.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had ended 1.77% lower on March 22.
European stocks too were trading lower in their late morning deals. Paris CAC 40 fell 0.52% while Frankfurt’s DAX was lower by 0.31%. London’s FTSE shed 0.62%.