FINAL TRADE: Indices continue to fall for fourth session; Nifty gives up 22,000, Sensex drops 455

Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty50 and Sensex fell on Thursday, April 18, extending the falling trend for the fourth session amid a broad-based sell-off led by financial shares. Both headline indices dropped over 0.5 per cent for the day. The Nifty index lost 152.05 points or 0.69 per cent to end at 21,995.85 while Sensex settled at 72,488.99, down 454.69 points, 0.62 per cent from its previous close.

"Domestic benchmarks extended losses amid mixed sentiments, emerged from escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and as hopes of US rate cuts waned. Investors are adapting to prolonged higher US interest rates due to strength in the labour market and progress in inflation so far," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.  

From the Nifty50 basket, Apollo Hospitals, Nestle India, Titan, ONGC and Axis Bank were among the laggards while Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco and Infosys were the major gainers.

Nifty Bank ended at 47,069.45, down 415.35 points, or 0.87 per cent. The broader, more domestically-focussed Nifty SmallCap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 lost about 0.28 per cent and 0.49 per cent, respectively. 

"The broader market has also witnessed profit booking, led by the weakness in heavy weight sectors like banking and FMCG. Meanwhile, investors will closely monitor the Q4 outcomes for further directions," he added. 

Global Market 

Global markets showed signs of recovery in early European trading on Thursday, with stocks rising and the US dollar pulling back from recent gains, while finance chiefs of the US, Japan and Korea issued a rare warning about currency weakness.

Stock markets sold off earlier this week, while Treasury yields and the US dollar surged to multi-month highs, as investors were spooked by tensions in the Middle East after Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel on April 13. Mixed quarterly company earnings so far and recent comments from the US Federal Reserve, which dampened rate cut expectations, also made investors more risk-averse.

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