Negative Breakout: 420 stocks out of BSE 500 settle below their 200-DMAs

Nearly 420 stocks of the BSE500 index hit below their 200 daily moving average (DMA) on February 24 after Russia ordered military action against Ukraine.

Analysts said that the stock falling below 200-DMA indicates short term weakness and negative bias. The 200-DMA is considered a major support level for an index or stock since it is a long-term average, analysts explain.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries Ltd, Asian Paints Ltd, Bajaj Finserv Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Wipro Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Infosys Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, Axis Bank, State bank of India, and Tata Motors all hit below 200 DMA.

Both the Sensex and Nifty declined over 4.7% each, their biggest slide since May 4, 2020. Both indices hit their six-month low. Sensex's fall on Thursday was the fourth biggest fall in terms of points among the top 10. In terms of percentage it was eighth biggest fall.  Broader market, too, nosedived more than 6%. All the sectoral indices were in the red with the majority of the sectors down almost 5-8%.

Total 278 firms hit their 52-week low while 59 stocks hit 52-week high among the all listed firms on the BSE. As many as 215 firms advanced and 3,185 firms declined while 78 firms were unchanged.

Analysts say markets are likely to remain under pressure given the escalation of Russia-Ukraine conflict into a war like situation. Any reaction from NATO / US armies is only going to worsen the situation further. Trades remain with negative bias while investors need to keep calm and patience to tide over the current situation, they said.