FINAL TRADE: Sensex down 551 pts; Nifty settles at 19,671; Bajaj Finance down nearly 3%

Stock market today: Indian equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Wednesday, October 18, amid broad-based selling. Globally, sentiments were dented after the Middle East conflict intensified, and the U.S. rate worried investors. Many public sector undertaking (PSU) stocks also declined after Zee Business' report on the Farzi Bull Run.

Zee Business carried out an operation to expose the spurious bull run in many PSU stocks. The Operation Farzi Bull Run report covered a string of stocks that have rallied in the recent past without any apparent reason and sought to protect the interests of small retail investors, especially the ill-informed ones.  

Read more on what is operation farzi bull run and how it impacted PSU stocks.

At close, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 551.07 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 65,877.02, and the NSE Nifty closed 140.4 points, or 0.71 per cent, at 19,671.1.

Nifty Mid Cap 100 and Small Cap 100 also closed lower.

Nifty Bank was down 1.17 per cent at 43,888.7.

Eleven stocks in the Nifty basket finished the day below the flatline, with Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries being the worst hit with losses to the tune of 1.44-3 per cent. Conversely, 

Cipla, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Sun Pharma, and SBI Life were the top gainers, rising between 0.49-2.5 per cent for the day. 

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and NTPC were the top stocks that dragged the 30-scrip index.

TECHNICAL VIEW

"On account of the correction the Nifty has now reached the zone of 19670 – 19640 where support in the form of 20- and 40-day moving averages are placed. Bollinger bands are contracting, indicating that consolidation is likely over the next few trading sessions. In terms of levels, 19640 – 19600 shall act as a crucial support and 19770 – 19800 is an immediate hurdle zone for the Index," said Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Further, for Nifty Bank Gedia said it will witness a pullback over the next few trading sessions.

BUZZING STOCKS 

MMTC, ITI Ltd, KIOCL, and Scooters India stock declined after Zee Business' report on the Farzi bull run.

HUDCO shares ended 10 per cent lower a day after the government announced that it would sell up to a 7 per cent stake in the company.

Cyient shares settled over 5 per cent lower.

Conversely, IRB Infrastructure Developer shares were up over 6 per cent amid heavy volumes. 

GLOBAL MARKETS

Markets fell in Europe and Asia after China reported on Wednesday that its economy grew at a 4.9 per cent annual pace in July-September, down from 6.3 per cent in the previous quarter.

Germany's DAX was unchanged at 15,253.87 while the CAC 40 in Paris also was virtually flat at 7,028.83.

Britain's FTSE 199 fell 0.2 per cent to 7,656.76 as the government reported that inflation held steady at 6.7 per cent in September as easing food and drink price rises were offset by higher fuel costs.

The future for the S and P 500 lost 0.2 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1 per cent lower.

(With agency inputs) 

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