Tech-Led Selloff Wipes Out Market Gains; Sensex, Nifty End Lower
Indian equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Tuesday, with the Sensex plunging nearly 900 points and the Nifty closing below the 23,850 mark, weighed down by a broad-based selloff in technology stocks, weak global market sentiment and concerns over further monetary tightening in the United States.
The NSE Nifty 50 settled at 23,824.10, down 278.80 points, or 1.16 per cent, while the BSE Sensex fell 893.39 points, or 1.16 per cent, to close at 76,200.68.
“Indian equity markets snapped their recent oil-driven rally and declined sharply alongside global peers as a broad technology-led selloff weighed on sentiment. Losses were led by the IT sector, which declined more than 2 per cent, while a weaker rupee and growing expectations of further US monetary tightening added to investor caution and weighed on overall sentiment,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money.
Sectoral indices largely ended in the red. Nifty IT was among the worst performers, falling 2.23 per cent, while Nifty Media declined 3.22 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank dropped 1.97 per cent, Nifty Auto fell 0.77 per cent and Nifty FMCG slipped 0.60 per cent.
Nifty Pharma was the only major sectoral index to end higher, gaining 0.92 per cent.
Despite the weakness in equities, crude oil prices continued to ease, with Brent crude trading at USD 77.51 per barrel at the time of filing the report.
Analysts also pointed to profit booking following the recent market rally as a factor contributing to increased volatility.
“The sharp decline in benchmark indices suggests profit booking and a rise in near-term caution among market participants. Market sentiment may remain volatile over the next few sessions, with traders closely monitoring key support zones. While the broader long-term trend remains intact, the near-term structure has weakened,” said Riyank Arora, Associate Vice President – HNI & Derivatives at Hedged.in.
The negative sentiment was mirrored across most Asian markets. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was the lone major regional benchmark to close in positive territory, edging up 0.03 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.98 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.79 per cent, and Taiwan’s Weighted Index slipped 1.36 per cent. South Korea’s KOSPI also ended lower, registering the steepest decline among major Asian markets.
(With ANI Inputs)
