Indian equity market took a hit on July 19 as weak global cues, concerns over rising inflation and the global spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus kept investors nervous.
The 30-share pack Sensex fell 734 points, while the Nifty plunged to 15,707.50 in intraday trade. At close, the Sensex was 587 points, or 1.1 percent, down at 52,553.40, while the Nifty settled 171 points, or 1.07 percent, lower at 15,752.40.
Midcaps and smallcaps fared better than their larger peers. The BSE midcap index closed 0.58 percent lower, while the smallcap index fell 0.31 percent.
Banking and financial heavyweights such as HDFC twins, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank were the lead contributors to the fall. Most banking stocks fell after HDFC Bank's Q1 numbers failed to meet market expectations.
"Shadowing global sell-off, Indian indices slipped succumbing to world inflation woes, FOMC meeting next week and rising COVID cases," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
"Banks led the domestic downtrend as initial quarterly results pointed to cautious asset quality due to the impact of the second wave. Slackening economic growth in the US led to reports of likely downgrade in growth forecast in the current year triggering global sell-off."
The overall market-capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed firms dropped to Rs 233.22 lakh crore from Rs 234.5 lakh crore in the previous session on July 16, making investors poorer by nearly Rs 1.3 lakh crore in a single day.
Sectors & stocks
Barring BSE Realty (up 0.23 percent), healthcare (up 0.17 percent) and utilities (up 0.05 percent), all sectoral indices ended in the red.
Even as the market remained in the red throughout the session, more than 600 stocks, including Omkar Speciality Chemicals, Windsor Machines, Vardhman Polytex, Vishnu Chemicals, Magadh Sugar & Energy, Dharani Sugars & Chemicals and Goodluck India, hit their upper circuits in intraday trade on BSE.
More than 500 stocks, including Larsen & Toubro, Indiabulls Real Estate, Mindtree, Tata Steel, ACC, DLF, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, DCM Shriram, Coforge and UltraTech Cement, hit their 52-week high on BSE.
Technical view
The Nifty formed a Doji kind of an indecisive pattern on July 19.
With this sharp fall, the Nifty once again appears to have entered into a sideways phase whose lower end seems to be placed around 15,630 levels, Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist–Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in, observed.
"In the next trading session, the Nifty needs to defend the low of 15,707 and the failure to do so shall initially drag it down towards 15,630. If the Nifty sustains above 15,707, then it should ideally move sideways which should facilitate a bounce into the zone of 15,836 – 882," he said.
"For the time being, it looks prudent to remain neutral on the market but intraday traders with high-risk appetite are advised to go short below 15,700 and look for a modest target of 15,630 by placing a stop above intraday high."
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