The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday slipped into the red tracking weak global sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 671 points to 71,355. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 21,513, down 198 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, SBI, ITC, Nestle India, Asian Paints, TechM, M&M were among the top losers of the day, declining between 1 per cent and 2 per cent. On the flip side, HCL, Sun Pharma, NTPC, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance, Titan emerged gainers.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined 0.87 per cent and 0.36 per cent, respectively.
Sectorwise, the Nifty PSU Bank index dropped 2.3 per cent, the Nifty FMCG index 1.7 per cent, and the Nifty Bank index 1.5 per cent. On the upside, media and realty indices bucked the trend.
In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex climbed over 150 points to close at 72,026.15, while the NSE Nifty50 jumped just above 50 points to settle at 21,710.80.
“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,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai,and Hong Kong settled lower. Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday. European markets were trading lower. The US markets ended marginally up on Friday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.21 per cent to $77.81 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,696.86 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee pared all its initial gains to settle just 1 paisa higher at 83.14 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, as the downward movement in crude oil prices in international markets supported the local unit. However, a strong American currency overseas and negative domestic equities dented overall sentiment, forex dealers said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 83.09 and oscillated between the peak of 83.04 and the lowest level of 83.16 against the greenback during the session. The domestic currency finally settled at 83.14 (provisional), up 1 paisa from its previous close. On Friday, the domestic currency settled with a gain of 9 paise at 83.15 against the dollar.