D-Street Buzz: Mid, small-caps reel under pressure; sectoral indices underperform Sensex

Indian equities fell like a house of cards in intraday trade on March 18.

The S&P BSE Sensex plunged over 1,400 points to trade below 29,200 while Nifty50 broke below crucial support levels at 8,555 in afternoon trade to hit a fresh 3-year low tracking muted trend seen in other Asian markets.

Mid-caps and small-caps were reeling under selling pressure. Their sectoral indices underperformed benchmark Sensex, with stocks falling up to 30 percent.

Around 13:40 hours IST, Sensex was 4 percent down at 29,353, while BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were 4.79 and 5.54 percent down, respectively.

Midcap index around 13:40 hours

Smallcap index around 13:40 hours

Sectorally, the selling pressure was seen in banks, financials, as well as telecom stocks.

Tracking selloff in global markets, the U.S. stock futures stepped back in choppy early Asian trade as concerns about the widening coronavirus epidemic weighed against hopes policy support would combat its economic fallout, said a Reuters report.

NiftyBank plunged more than 7 percent, the lowest since February 2017. The fall in the index was led by losses in IndusInd Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, etc. among others.