Market indices which reported heavy losses during intra-day session ended with lesser than expected decline.Fag-end buying in FMCG and select bank stocks, coupled with reports of proposals to halt Ukraine war, lifted benchmark indices sharply off lows, helping them recoup more than half of their intra-day losses.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 361 points, or 0.62 per cent, to end at 57,629 levels on Monday, while the Nifty50 settled below the 17,000-mark at 16,988, lower by 112 points or 0.65 per cent.The indices rebounded from their intra-day lows of 57,085, and 16,828, respectively.
The investors remained averse of risky assets despite Swiss giant, UBS, agreeing to but Credit Suisse for over $3 billion.Moreover, a drop in crude oil prices (Brent is now hovering around $70 per barrel), also failed to soothe investors’ nerves.The 10 per cent fall in crude oil prices in the last 7 days – from $80.6 per barrel (Brent oil) on March 13 to $72.4 now – is likely to be temporary, believe analysts, who expect them to bounce back once the banking sector crisis in the US and Europe is fully contained.
The broader market saw more losses with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices sliding 1 per cent each.
Volatility index, India VIX, too surged 8 per cent today.
Meanwhile, the broad-based selling hurt metal and PSU banks the most with their respective indices on the NSE dropping over 2 per cent, and 1.7 per cent, respectively.The Nifty FMCG index was the only gainer, up 0.8 per cent.
Gainers & losers Adani nterprises, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Wipro, Tata Motors, SBI, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Tech M, HCL Tech, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance, L&T, Infosys, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, HDFC Life, UPL, and Apollo Hospitals lost in the range of 1 per cent and 4 per cent.
On the upside, HUL, BPCL, ITC, Nestle India, Grasim, Titan, Divis Lab, Kotak Bank, Axis bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Life, and Sun Pharma were the only large-cap gainers, gaining up to 2.6 per cent.
