Closing Bell: Indian frontline indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 witnessed rout on Wednesday marking their third consecutive loss this week. The market breadth was skewed in favour of bears ahead of the monthly expiry on Thursday. While Sensex slipped below 60,000 to settle at 59,744.98, down by 927.74 points or 1.53 per cent while the broader market Nifty50 closed at 17,554.30, lower by 272.40 points or 1.53 per cent. The banking gauge Nifty Bank finished at 39,995.90, down by 677.70 points or 1.67 per cent. All 12 stocks closed in the red, today.

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In the 50 stock Nifty50, 2 stocks advanced against 48 declines. The gainers were ITC and Bajaj Auto while the top losers were Adani Enterprises (-11 per cent), Adani Ports (-7.24 per cent), Grasim Industries, Bajaj Finance and JSW Steel.

India VIX, a measure of volatility in Nifty was up over 11 per cent from the previous closing as the index ended at 15.59. 

Source: NSE

Source: NSE

All 15 Nifty sectoral indices closed the day in the red with Nifty Metal (-2.64 per cent), Nifty Media (-1.91 per cent) and Nifty PSU Bank (-1.93 per cent) among the worst performing indices.

Selling pressure was widespread in the broader markets as well. The Nifty Mid Cap index fell 345.80 points or 1.13 per cent at 30,211.00. In the 100-stock index, 21 advanced, 78 declined while 1 remained unchanged. The top gainers were Linde India, Aurobindo Pharma and PB Fintech while top losers were Aditya Birla Faishon and Retail, Adani Wilmar and Astral Limited. Meanwhile Nifty Small Cap 100 ended at 9,244.80, lower by 106.65 points or 1.14 per cent. In the index which had 20 advances and 80 declines, the top gainers were IRB Infrastructure, Alok Industries and Cyient while the top losers were Justdial, Redington and IDBI.     

Rupee Vs Dollar: The rupee depreciated by 10 paise to settle at 82.89 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, as intense selling pressure in domestic equities and a strong greenback overseas dented the sentiment, PTI reported. However, a sharp decline in crude oil prices in the international market restricted the rupee's fall, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened flat at 82.79, and it moved in a tight range of 82.89 to 82.79 during the session. It finally closed at 82.89 against the US dollar, registering a fall of 10 paise over its previous close of 82.79.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.12 per cent higher at 104.23 ahead of the release of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes later in the day.

Bond yields in the US have shot higher this month on anticipation of a firmer action by the Federal Reserve in its efforts to stamp out inflation, this PTI report further said.

Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities said, "Rupee traded weak below 82.85 amid increasing bond prices in the US which have spiked above November 2022 rates. Keeping the hawkish view on rate hikes the participants keep increasing positions in safer dollars against risky assets. "Rupee weakness can be seen further below if RBI avoids intervention near 83.00."

Commodities

April Gold futures were also trading lackluster on MCX around 4:31 pm. They were down by Rs 47 or 0.08 per cent from the Tuesday closing price and were traing at Rs 56121 per 10 gram. As for March Silver futures, prices were down by Rs 262 or 0.40 per kg at Rs 65,790.   
 

Source: MCX

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 1.48 per cent to USD 81.82 per barrel.

Expert Take

"The Nifty opened gap down and continued to witness selling pressure throughout the day to close deep in the red down ~272 points for the day. On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty has closed decisively below the 61.82% fibonacci retracement level (17650) and is currently trading below the 40 week moving average (17594) which is a sign of weakness. The daily momentum indicator has triggered a negative crossover from the equilibrium line which is a sell signal. Thus, both price and momentum indicator is suggesting a further decline in the coming trading session. On the way down we expect Nifty to retest the recent swing low of 17350 which coincides with the 200 day simple moving average and the recent swing low it touched on the day of Budget. On the upside the hourly moving averages and the gap area formed today in the range 17775 - 17820 shall act as a stiff resistance." -- Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas