Sensex, Nifty erase all gains made since July, end lower for 6th day; check what pushed D-St lower

Indian share markets crashed nearly 3 per cent to end at two and a half month on the expiry day of September derivative series, amid weak global cues. BSE Sensex crashed 1,115 points or 2.96 per cent at 36,553.60, this level was last seen on July 10 this year. While the broader Nifty 50 index ended at 10,805, down 326 points or 2.93 per cent. Nifty was at this level last on July 13, 2020. So far this month, the 30-share Sensex has lost 6.42 per cent and Nifty 50 index 6.15 per cent till today’s close. FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever was the only Sensex gainer in Thursday’s trade. Sensex stocks such as IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, M&M, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and Infosys were among other losers on the Sensex pack, down in the range of 4.3-7.10 per cent.

Expert comment: Markets tracked weak global cues as the uncertainty witnessed in the last few days gave way to negativity, with broader markets also underperforming. “The uncertainty regarding an economic recovery, the unabated rise in virus infections, and today being derivatives expiry day, all contributed to the negativity. With volatility expected to be high, traders are advised to remain cautious,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Stock market may reach 10,158 soon: “Markets have achieved the support of 10,800 in a very short span of time, which was derived from the 200-day moving average. From closing levels of today markets could be headed towards a further correction, the momentum that is there today clearly indicates that the market is sinking beyond 200-day moving average and it may breach that level soon. Whatever rise we have seen from March bottoms, till now could be trimmed down to 10,158 levels,” Vinay Rajani, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, told Financial Express Online.

Nifty Metal top sectoral loser: Nifty IT and Nifty Metal indices were top sectoral losers, down 4.20 per cent and 4.24 per cent, respectively. Nifty Bank fell 3.4 per cent, Nifty Auto 3.54 per cent and Nifty FMCG index lost 0.95 per cent.

India VIX up 12.32%: India VIX opened at 20.99 on Thursday and went down till 20.93 mark. However, the high of the volatility index was at 23.82 before closing at 23.58. This volatility pushed Sensex and Nifty down nearly 3 per cent from the previous close.

Broader markets: The broader market outperformed the equity benchmarks. The S&P BSE MidCap index dropped 2.14 per cent or 304.71 points to 13,933 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index slipped 2.28 per cent or 331.25 per cent to 14,168.