Sensex falls over 200 points, Nifty tests 21,400; Solar Industries, JSW Energy, Union Bank down up to 6%

Indian equity benchmarks traded lower in Monday's early deals, dragged by banks, financials and metal stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 236 points or 0.33 per cent to trade at 71,248, while the NSE Nifty was down 45 points or 0.21 per cent to trade at 21,412. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were also weak as Nifty Midcap 100 was down 0.35 per cent and small-cap shed 0.37 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares worth Rs 42,733 crore in the first half of December, after turning net buyers in November, data from National Securities Depository showed.

On the global front, Asia stocks slipped in a subdued start to a week.

Back home, 11 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Metal were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.58 per cent, 0.49 per cent and 0.88 per cent, respectively. On the flip side, Nifty Healthcare rose 0.47 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, JSW Steel was the top loser in the Nifty pack as the stock cracked 3.37 per cent to trade at Rs 837.95. Coal India, M&M, ITC and PowerGrid fell up to 1.61 per cent.

In contrast, Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Titan, Sun Pharma and Nestle India were among the top gainers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,977 shares were advancing while 1,190 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, ICICI Bank, ITC, Infosys, Axis Bank, L&T and HDFC Bank were among the top laggards.

Also, Solar Industries, JSW Energy, Union Bank, SJVN, JW Steel and India Cement tanked up to 5.56 per cent. On the other hand, Rajesh Exports, Shree Renuka Sugars, Thermax, Balrampur Chini Mills, Praj Industries and Zensar Technologies jumped up to 8.10 per cent.

Also read: Stock recommendations by market analyst for December 18, 2023: SBI, IDFC and Graphite India

Also read: Sugar stocks:  Balrampur Chini, Dhampur, Shree Renuka, Dwarikesh shares among 32 sugar shares rallying up to 11%. Here's why