Top losers
Stocks such as IndusInd Bank, M&M, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Infosys and Tata Steel led the losers on Sensex, falling up to 5.51% in early deals. HDFC bank was the sole gainer rising 0.24%
551 stocks hit 52-week lows
As many as 16 stocks hit their 52-week highs today. On the other hand, 551 shares fell to their 52-week lows on BSE, reflecting weak market sentiment.
Market breadth in red
Out of 3136 stocks traded, 539 stocks were trading in the green on BSE. Around 2,478 stocks were trading in the red while 119 stocks remained unchanged.
Lower circuits, Upper circuits
Around 152 stocks hit their lower circuits as the stock market tanked in the morning session. On the other hand, 39 shares hit their upper circuits, amid weak sentiment on BSE.
Expert take
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "March is likely to witness recovery in the Indian market backed by better macro news flows and subdued FII selling. Since largecap valuations are fair, and in pockets attractive, FIIs are unlikely to press selling as aggressively during the last few months. Long-term investors can utilise the weakness in the market to slowly accumulate fairly-valued quality largecaps and select fairly-valued stocks in the broader market, like defence stocks for instance."
Midcap, smallcap indices tumble
BSE midcap index tanked 933 pts to 38,512, indicating weakness in the broader market. BSE small cap stock index too tumbled 1,000 pts to 43,106 level.
FIIs/DIIs positions
Foreign institutional investors sold Rs 556.56 crore worth of equities on a net basis on Thursday, while domestic investors bought Rs 1727 crore of shares, as per provisional NSE data.
Previous session
Sensex gained 10 pts to 74,612 and Nifty slipped 2.5 pts to 22,545. Nifty closed at a nine-month low, its lowest level since the close of 21,884 on June 4.