After witnessing recovery in the previous session, the market again came under pressure on October 18 amid selling across the sectors barring auto and pharma.
At close, the Sensex was down 551.07 points or 0.83 percent at 65,877.02, and the Nifty was down 140.40 points or 0.71 percent at 19,671.10.
On the back of weak global cues, the market started on a negative note. However, a mild recovery in the initial hours didn't last long and indices extended the opening losses with the Nifty and the Sensex breaking 19,700 and 66,000, intraday.
Stocks and sectors
The biggest losers included Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, while gainers were Cipla, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and SBI Life Insurance.
Among sectors, except auto and pharma, all other sectoral indices ended in the red with power, Information technology, oil & gas, metal, realty and bank down 0.5-1 percent each.
The BSE Midcap index shed 0.8 percent and the Smallcap index fell 0.3 percent.
A short build-up was seen in Syngene International, Biocon and L&T Technology Services, while a long build-up was seen in Cipla, Sun TV Network and Dr Reddy's Laboratories.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 600 percent was seen in Punjab National Bank, Cipla and Sun TV Network.
More than 250 stocks touched their 52-week high on the BSE including Titagarh Rail Systems, Suzlon Energy, Alembic, Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals, Polycab India, KIOCL, NBCC. Click here for the full list
Outlook for October 19
Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking
Markets reversed Tuesday’s move and lost over half a percent, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase. After the flat start, the Nifty gradually drifted lower and finally settled closer to the day’s low at 19671.10 levels. Most sectors traded in sync with the benchmark and ended lower wherein banking, financials and energy were the top losers. The pressure was visible on the broader front too as both midcap and smallcap index shed in the range of 0.30%-0.95%.
Fresh weakness in banking and financial majors combined with a downtick in other heavyweights like Reliance is pointing towards further slide. On the index front, a decline below 19,600 in Nifty would again turn the bias on the negative side. We suggest maintaining hedged positions and advise keeping a check on position size citing the prevailing choppiness.
Aditya Gaggar Director of Progressive Shares:
After facing resistance near 19,850, the markets witnessed a round of correction and ended the day at 19,671.10 declined by 140.40 points. Only the Pharma sector ended the day with considerable gains, while all the other sectors ended in red with Banking indices being the major laggard followed by Energy.
Broader markets also witnessed pressure as Midcap and Smallcap ended the session lower with a loss of 0.90% & 0.34% respectively. Nifty50 has not only made a strong bearish candle on the daily chart but also has given a breakdown from the rising trendline which indicates a short-term weakness in the market.
Today's breakdown can be considered as a whipsaw if the Index gives a closing above 19,800 in days to come. The immediate support for the Index stands at 19,580 while the resistance is placed at 19,780.
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