Amid escalating clashes between the United States and Iran, Indian benchmark indices plunged 1.5% on March 4, extending their slide to 4% in the past three trading sessions.
The market opened gap-down, with the Nifty slipping close to the 24,300 mark intraday, as broad-based selling across sectors weighed on sentiment amid weak global cues and rising geopolitical tensions. However, final hour buying especially IT stocks, helped to recover some of the lost ground.
At close, the Sensex was down 1,122.66 points or 1.40 percent at 79,116.19, and the Nifty was down 385.20 points or 1.55 percent at 24,480.50.
Broader indices underperformed the main indices with Nifty Midcap and smallcap indices falling 2% each.
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The Indian rupee depreciated further on Wednesday, breaching the 92-per-dollar mark to hit a fresh intraday record low of 92.30. The domestic currency eventually settled at 92.14 against the US dollar, down 67 paise from its previous close, pressured by rising conflict in the Middle East.
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Tata Steel, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, SBI Life Insurance, L&T, JSW Steel were among major losers on the Nifty, while gainers included Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Tech Mahindra.
| Index | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensex | 76,034.42 | -829.29 | -1.08% |
| Nifty 50 | 23,639.15 | -227.70 | -0.95% |
| Nifty Bank | 55,100.95 | -634.80 | -1.14% |
| Biggest Gainer | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal India | 470.10 | 23.35 | +5.23% |
| Biggest Loser | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| M&M | 3,031.20 | -137.00 | -4.32% |
| Best Sector | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty Energy | 36834.35 | 695.85 | +1.93% |
| Worst Sector | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty Auto | 25098.00 | -828.00 | -3.19% |
Except IT, all other sectoral indices ended in the red, with Infra, PSU Bank, Realty, Media, Oil & gas, Auto, Metal down 2-4%.
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More than 700 stocks touched their 52-week low, including APTUS VALUE, Shree Cements, IGL, Rail Vikas, Bata India, Interglobe Aviation, Brigade Enterprises, Birla Corp, JK Lakshmi Cement, Ircon International, DLF, GNFC, REC, Olectra Greentech, Ambuja Cements, SBI Cards, Emami, IEX, ACC, among others. Click to View More
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Outlook for March 5
Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities
The havoc continued in the Indian markets on Wednesday and the Nifty closed the day lower by 385 points. After opening on a huge downside gap of 480 points on the back of weak global cues due to rising geo-political tension, Nifty made an attempt of recovery in the mid part of the session amidst range bound action. The opening downside gap has been filled partially and Nifty closed the day off the lows.
A reasonable green candle was formed on the daily chart with gap down opening and with upper and lower shadow. Technically, this market action indicates sharp selling with minor volatility. We observe meaningful upside recoveries after a sharp gap down openings in the last couple of sessions. This action could be an attempt of bulls to witness relief rally.
The underlying trend of Nifty remains weak amidst global geo-political tension. Nifty is currently sliding down to an important support zone of around 24300-24100 (previous important swing lows and opening up gap of 12th May). Hence, there is a higher possibility of reasonable upside bounce from the lows in the near term. Immediate resistance is placed at 24600.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities
Today, the benchmark indices corrected sharply. After a sharp decline, the Nifty ended 385 points lower, while the Sensex was down by 1123 points. Among sectors, almost all the major sectoral indices closed in the negative territory, but the Metal Index lost the most, shedding over 4 percent. Technically, after a gap-down open, the market hovered between the 24,300/78500 to 24,600/79500 range.
We are of the view that the short-term outlook is weak but oversold. For traders, 24,300/78500 would act as a key support zone. If the market sustains above this level, the immediate resistance would be at 24,600/79500. Above 24,600/79500, it could move up to 24,800-25,000/80000-80500. Conversely, a decline below 24,300/78500 could change the sentiment. Below this, the market could slip to 24,100-24,000/78000-77800. The current market texture is extremely volatile and is expected to remain volatile in the near future.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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