Taking Stock | Sensex sheds 518 points on profit booking, Nifty below 18,200

The Indian equity benchmarks ended lower as the profit booking continued for the third consecutive session on November 21 amid mixed global cues and selling across the sectors barring in PSU banks.

At close, the Sensex was down 518.64 points, or 0.84 percent, at 61,144.84, and the Nifty was down 147.70 points, or 0.81 percent, at 18,160.

Amid mixed global cues, the market started the week on a weaker note and extended losses as the day progressed to finish near the day’s low.

"The Nifty started lower following weak global cues and remained sideways during the day. On the lower end, it slipped towards the previous swing high (18100)," says Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

The trend looks a bit weak with a rounding top formation on the daily timeframe. The bearish crossover in RSI with a negative divergence suggests weak momentum, he said.

"Going forward, 18,100 may provide immediate support below which the index may drift down towards 17,750. On the higher end, resistance is visible at 18,200/18,450," De said.

ONGC, Adani Ports, Reliance Industries, Hindalco Industries and HDFC were among the biggest Nifty losers, while gainers included BPCL, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, HUL and IndusInd Bank.

The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1.4 percent, while energy, pharma, auto, metal, and information technology indices shed 0.5-1 percent.

The BSE midcap and the smallcap indices ended flat. On the BSE, auto, oil & gas, metal, information technology, power and realty indices were down 0.5-1 percent.

Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 400 percent was seen in Muthoot Finance, Intellect Design Arena and Trent.

A long build-up was seen in Escorts, Indian Energy Exchange and NMDC, while a short build-up was seen in ONGC, Bandhan Bank and Jubilant FoodWorks.

Bandhan Bank, Hester Biosciences, Quess Corp, RSWM, Premier, Rupa & Company, V2 Retail, Jet Airways, Voltas touched their 52-week low on the BSE.

On the other hand, Bank Of Maharashtra, Central Bank Of India, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Indian Bank, Atul Auto, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank Of India and UCO Bank.

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