After showing a recovery in the previous session, the Indian indices shed over a percent on the back of a global selloff, with Sensex breaking the crucial 40,000 level and the Nifty sliding below 11,750.
The Sensex shed 599.64 points or 1.48 percent to close at 39,922.46 and the Nifty was down 159.80 points or 1.34 percent to end at 11,729.60.
“Rising Covid-19 cases globally specifically in Europe and the US are worrying investors as strict lockdown could be imposed and economy recovery, still at a nascent stage, could once again get hit. Further, no stimulus announcement as well as elections in the US, too, are keeping investors on the edge," said Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking.
"The scheduled derivative expiry of October month contracts will further add to the volatility. We reiterate our cautious view on markets and suggest continuing with the stock-specific trading approach."
Led by financials, selling was witnessed in pharma, metal and IT as well.
Broader markets also ended lower. The S&P BSE midcap index was down 0.9 percent and the smallcap index ended lower by 0.7 percent.
The top losers on the Nifty were IndusInd Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra and Adani Ports, while gainers were Bharti Airtel, UPL, M&M, Eicher Motors and Hero MotoCorp.
Also Read - Gainers & Losers: 10 stocks that moved the most on October 28
| Index | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensex | 62,547.11 | 118.57 | +0.19% |
| Nifty 50 | 18,534.10 | 46.35 | +0.25% |
| Nifty Bank | 43,937.85 | 147.65 | +0.34% |
| Biggest Gainer | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hindalco | 420.75 | 14.40 | +3.54% |
| Biggest Loser | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adani Enterpris | 2,445.05 | -47.10 | -1.89% |
| Best Sector | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty Metal | 5956.00 | 71.80 | +1.22% |
| Worst Sector | Prices | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nifty IT | 29328.20 | -118.10 | -0.40% |
Stocks & sectors
Sectorally, the bank and metal indices shed more than 2 percent and IT and pharma indices fell a percent each.
The BSE realty index shed 2 percent and the oil & gas index was down 0.9 percent.
A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in NALCO, Escorts and Vedanta.
Long buildup was seen in Marico, Pidilite Industries and M&M, while short buildup was seen in Concor, Nestle and Colgate Palmolive.
On the BSE the stocks that hit a fresh 52-week high included APL Apollo, KPR Mill, Ipca Laboratories and Angel Broking.
Technical View
The Nifty formed a bearish engulfing and a bearish belt hold kind of candle on the daily scale, which indicated that the bears were in control of the session through the day.
The index has turned highly volatile in the last couple of sessions and got stuck in a wider range where declines were being bought while multiple hurdles are intact at 11950-12020 zones.
“Now it has to cross and hold above the 11,777 zone to witness an upmove towards 11,900 then 12,020 levels while on the downside, major support exists at 11,666 and below that, fresh round of selling could be seen towards 11550-11500 zones,” Chandan Taparia of Motilal Oswal Financial Services told Moneycontrol.
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