Closing Bell: Nifty ends near 16,300, Sensex declines by around 350 points; midcap, small cap witness huge selling pressure

The Indian market extended losses for the second day in a row as it corrected more than half per cent on Monday. The broader Nifty50 closed around 16,300, while the Sensex declined over 300 points amid hawkish stance by the Fed and other global central banks. Benchmarks Nifty and the Sensex ended the day at 16,301.85 and 54,470.67 respectively.

"Hawkish stance by the Fed, rate hikes by RBI, Bank of England and Australian central bank have created an atmosphere of risk-off for equities," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Nifty corrected by 3.9 percent last week, but investors should not commit the mistake of aggressively buying on this dip assuming that prices have corrected a lot, he cautioned. 

Meanwhile, underperforming the headline indices, Nifty mid cap and small cap indices fell over 1.5% and 2% respectively. India Volatility Index shot up to end near 22-mark.  

Sectorally, PSU Bank, consumer durable, FMCG, metal stocks witnessed maximum selling pressure on Monday.  

The 12-share Nifty Bank dropped over 300 points to settle below 34,300. 

"The Bank Nifty index yesterday filled the previous gap of 34000 and needs to sustain above this level for a relief rally. The immediate resistance on the upside stands at the 34600-34800 zone and a break above this will lead to short covering towards the levels of 35500," said Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities. The index, however, if breaks the level of 34000 will witness further downside towards the levels of 32500, he adds. 

Meanwhile, among stocks, Power Grid, HCL Tech, Bajaj Auto, Infosys, Divis Laboratories, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti gained the most in a falling market.  

Reliance Industries, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, State Bank and Hindustan Unliver were top laggards on Monday.