Sensex, Nifty continue to fall; Bajaj Auto, LTIMindTree jump up to 7%; MMTC tanks 10%

Dalal Street remained in bear-grip on Thursday as the weak global cues dented the market sentiments. The conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle-East and surged in the bond yields were the key catalysts for the weakness but traders also await Jerome Powell's speech due later today.

For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex dropped 247.78 points, or 0.38 per cent, to end the session at 65,629.24. NSE's Nifty50 declined 46.40 points, or 0.24 per cent, to end the day at 19,624.70. Broader markets outperformed the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled little changed. Fear gauge India VIX dropped a per cent to 10.86-mark.

A sharp fall in several benchmark Asian and European indices dented the local market sentiment as the ongoing Middle East war continued to force investors to cut their exposure to equities. The key concern is that if the war continues for long, investors would move to safe haven assets to safeguard their interest, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.

"Technically, the Nifty is trading near the 50-day SMA. For the traders now, the 50-day SMA or 19,625 would act as a trend decider level. Above the same, we could see a technical bounce back till 19,700-19,735 levels. On the flip side, below 19,625 the index could retest the level of 19,520-19,480," he said.

On a sectoral front, the Nifty metal index dropped about a per cent, while the Nifty oil & gas index shed half a per cent. The Nifty pharma, healthcare, realty and financial services indices were other key laggards. Among the gainers, the Nifty auto index rose about half a per cent.

In the Nifty50 pack,muted Q2 earnings dragged Wipro 3 per cent down, while Tech Mahindra dropped about 2 per cent for the day. Sun Pharma, NTPC, UPL, Hindalco, Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Tata Steel declined a per cent each, making it among the losers.

On the contrary, Bajaj Auto surged about 7 per cent, while LTIMindTree surged 6 per cent after robust Q2 earnings. Hero MotoCorp and Nestle India advanced 4 per cent, while UltraTech Cement rallied 3 per cent and IndusInd Bank gained 2 per cent after quarterly results.

Amid increasing global political strain, US treasury yield, and underwhelming IT earnings, the domestic market continued to trade with a minor cut, said  Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"However, some optimism was evident in the equity market given global efforts to stabilize the West Asia conflict, which deescalated crude prices trend. Auto sector stocks outperformed, driven by Q2 results. Investors are closely monitoring the Q2 earnings season, US Fed chair speak and West Asia developments," he said.

Among the gainers, Shakti Pumps and Rushil Decor hits upper circuits of 20 per cent each. Jai Corp gained more than 18 per cent, while Seamec and Vardhman Special Steels soared 12 per cent each. Nucleus Software Exports and SEPC hit an upper circuit 10 per cent each for the day. NBCC was also up 10 per cent.

On the other hand, Accelya Solutions India dropped more than 10 per cent, while MMTC hit an lower cirucit of 10 per cent. Som Distilleries and Breweries and Astral were down 6 per cent each, while Indraprastha Gas and Kirlosakar Pneumatic declined 5 per cent each. 

Also Read: UltraTech Cement Q2 results: Profit jumps 70% to Rs 1,281 crore; revenue up 15%