Sensex falls 169 points, Nifty holds 21,400; SpiceJet rises 20%; ITC & Power Grid fall up to 2%

Domestic equity markets kicked off the new week on a muted note and settled with mild cuts on Monday. Benchmark indices see-sawed between red and green zone for the day but finally settled lower, tracking the feeble global cues. The oversea concerns continue to weigh on the markets, while analysts are expecting some cool-off ahead of the year end.

For the day, BSE's Sensex dropped 168.66 points, or 0.24 per cent, to settle at 71,315.09. NSE's Nifty50 shed 38 points, or 0.18 per cent, to end the day at 21,418.65. Broader markets outperformed the headline peers as the BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled in green. Fear gauge spiked about 6 per cent to 13.90-mark.

Markets started the week on a muted note and ended marginally lower, taking a breather after the recent surge. A mixed trend across sectors kept the traders occupied wherein pharma and metal performed well while realty, banking and IT witnessed profit taking. A similar trend on the broader front was seen too, said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research at Religare Broking.

"We maintain our bullish view and suggest focusing on buying opportunities amid consolidation. At the same time, traders shouldn’t get carried away with the prevailing momentum and stick with the fundamentally sound counters. Apart from the preferred set viz. banking and IT, we feel stocks from FMCG, pharma and metal can do well so align trades accordingly," he said.

On a sectoral front, the Nifty media index gained more than a per cent, followed by the Nifty pharma index. The Nifty healthcare and consumer durable indices were other gainers for the day. The Nifty realty, private bank and PSU Bank indices shed about a per cent each, while the Nifty FMCG, IT and financial services indices were other laggards.

In the Nifty50 pack, Power Grid shed over 2 per cent, while ITC, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank, Grasim Industries and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise rose a per cent each. Bajaj Auto surged about 3 per cent, while Hindalco gained about 2 per cent for the day. Sun Pharma and Adani Ports also added over a per cent each.

"The market started on a subdued note as concerns over oil supply disruptions through the Red Sea and elevated valuations dented investor sentiment. On the global front, attention will be directed towards BOJ monetary policy and UK inflation data, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"We expect a near-term consolidation in the market due to an unfavourable risk reward after the recent rapid performance, concerns over El Nino, and a slowdown in world GDP," he said.

A total of 4,028 shares were traded on BSE on Monday, of which 2,172 settled with gains. 1,716 stocks ended the session with cuts while 140 shares remained unchanged. During the day, 450 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas merely 240 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, SpiceJet hit an upper circuit of 20 per cent, while Geojit Financial Services and IRCTC gained about 13 per cent each. Reliance Industrial Infrastructure gained over 12 per cent each. Kellton Tech Solutions, Salasar Techno Engineering and JK Tyre & Industries rose 11 per cent each.

On the downside, Sanmit Infra dropped more than 6 per cent, while GMR Power & Urban Infra dropped 5 per cent for the day. Swan Energy, TruCap Finance, Union Bank of India, GE Power India, Time Technoplast, and Kiri Industries dropped 4 per cent at the close.

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