The bears took charge of Dalal Street on March 20 after a two-day break amid lingering worries about the health of the global banking system and selling across the sectors at home in a volatile session.
The Sensex closed 360.95 points, or 0.62 percent, lower at 57,628.95 and the Nifty was down 111.60 points, or 0.65 percent, at 16,988.40.
Amid weak global cues, the market started gap-down and stayed in the red. Some buying in the last couple of hours helped the Sensex and the Nifty to recover from the day's lows of 57,084.91 and 16,828.35.
"The fear of contagion of the financial crisis has kept investors away from the equity markets as the global market faces numerous hurdles. Despite Swiss regulators' intervention to protect the global financial system, investor sentiment remained shaky," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
"The market is now awaiting the outcome of the Fed meeting to see how they will respond to the ongoing crisis, particularly in terms of rate hikes. Investors expect the central bank to raise interest rates by 0–25 basis points," he added.
Also Read - Below 16,900: What triggered Nifty’s sharp selloff
Stocks and sectors
Bajaj Finserv, Adani Enterprises, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco Industries and Wipro were among the top losers on the Nifty, while gainers were HUL, BPCL, ITC, Grasim Industries and Nestle India.
Barring FMCG, all sectoral indices ended in the red. Realty, capital goods, information technology, metal and PSU bank were down 1-2 percent.
The BSE midcap and smallcap indices shed 1 percent each.
Also Read: Banking crisis unlikely to spare Asia growth but Indian banks fit to fight it out
More than 350 stocks touched their 52-week low on the BSE. These include Rolta, Quess Corp, Zuari Agro Chemicals, Wipro, Balaji Telefilms, V-Mart Retail, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, Nelco, HDIL, Coffee Day Enterprises and Blue Dart Express.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 200 percent was seen in Balrampur Chini Mills, Page Industries and Apollo Hospitals.
A short build-up was seen in Balrampur Chini Mills, Hindustan Aeronautics and India Cements, while a long build-up was seen in Hindustan Unilever, Page Industries and BPCL.
Also Read: Domestic passenger traffic jumps 74% YoY in February, says DGCA
Outlook for March 21
Ajit Mishra, VP-Technical Research, Religare Broking
The market started the week on a volatile note and lost over half a percent in continuation of the prevailing trend.
Mixed global cues are keeping the participants on the edge and it might continue in near future in the absence of any major domestic event. We expect some respite for the Nifty but only if it holds 16,800. The focus should be on risk management.
Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas
The Nifty witnessed a volatile day of trade. It opened weak and drifted lower in the first half. As the day progressed, buying interest emerged from the lower end of the downward sloping channel support zone of 16,800–16,850 It closed on a negative note though well off the intraday lows, indicating buying interest at lower levels.
On the hourly charts, the momentum indicator has triggered a positive crossover, which is a buy signal. Thus, we expect the Nifty to carry forward the positive momentum to the next trading session.
On the upside, the immediate hurdle stands at the 17,145–17,200, where the previous swing high is placed. The immediate support is at the lower end of the downward sloping channel 16,800–16,850.
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