Rs 13 lakh cr m-cap gone in 4 days! Sensex, Nifty tank over 1% on fag-end selling; what’s ahead?

Domestic equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty resumed their downtrend on Friday after the prior session's relief as selling pressure in banking stocks amid tensions in West Asia, rising crude oil prices, and continued foreign investor outflows weighed on sentiment.

In the final hour of trading, losses deepened, dragging the benchmarks sharply lower. The Sensex declined 1097 points, or 1.37 per cent, to settle at 78,918.90. The Nifty slipped 315.45 points, or 1.27 per cent, to close at 24,450.45. The benchmarks have declined in five of the last six sessions.

Investors' wealth plunged by Rs 13.46 lakh crore in the last four sessions in March as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms slumped to Rs 449.79 lakh crore from Rs 463.25 lakh crore on February 27's close.

The 50-pack index fell below 24,700 at the open and then broke through the immediate 24,600 and 24,500 support levels during intraday trading, indicating continued distribution at higher levels, said Hariprasad K, SEBI-registered research analyst and founder at Livelong Wealth. 

Top gainers & losers

Among Sensex constituents, ICICI Bank emerged as the top loser, falling 3.39% to Rs 1,313.35. Eternal followed with a 3.39% decline, while Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI) fell 2.58%, 2.56%, 2.39% and 2.37%, respectively. 

While Bharat Electronics (BEL), Reliance Industries and Sun Pharma were top gainers on the Sensex, they rose up to 1.82% today.

Five stocks, namely ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), contributed heavily to the Sensex’s decline.  

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Bankex index declined 2.14% to close at 64,991.19, while the BSE Auto index lost 1.10% to settle at 59,829.86.

52-week low

In the BSE 500 index, shares of ACC, Ambuja Cements, Alkyl Amines Chemicals, Cyient, Berger Paints India, Cohance Lifesciences, Indraprastha Gas, AWL Agri Business, Birla Corporation, JK Lakshmi Cement, Jubilant Pharmova, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care and Sonata Software hit their 52-week lows

Market breadth turned negative on BSE. Of the 4,374 actively traded stocks, 1,895 ended in the green, while a dominant 2,304 declined and 175 settled unchanged. The session saw 69 stocks scaling fresh 52-week highs, compared with 258 counters sliding to new 52-week lows. In addition, 7 scrips were locked at their upper circuits, whereas 11 hit lower circuit limits.

On the upside, Hariprasad said that 24,600 is now the first resistance level, followed by 24,700, both of which were previously support zones and are now expected to function as supply areas during any short-term pullback.

“Beyond these levels, the 24,950–25,000 band remains a major resistance zone, supported by significant open interest concentration and strong psychological importance, making it a formidable barrier for any meaningful recovery,” Hariprasad added.

According to Ajit Mishra, SVP of Research at Religare Broking Ltd, a break below the recent swing low of 24,300 could quickly drag the index to the 24,000 level. “Fresh weakness in the banking pack, which carries significant weight in the index, also adds to the negative bias,” Mishra said.

Mishra said that strength in specific sectors and themes such as pharmaceuticals, metals, PSE, and defence continues to provide buying opportunities on a rotational basis. “Given the current setup, we maintain a cautious stance and recommend staying selective while focusing on strict risk management until the market stabilises," he added.