MUMBAI, March 10: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty pared early gains to close lower in a volatile session on Monday dragged by selling in industrials and oil & gas shares in the last hour.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 217.41 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 74,115.17 with 22 of its constituents ending lower and eight with gains.
The index opened higher and touched a high of 74,741.25 during the day. However, selling pressure emerged in the pre-close session pulling the index down by 310.34 points or 0.41 per cent to a low of 74,022.24.
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The Nifty of NSE declined by 92.20 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 22,460.30.
From the 30 Sensex companies, IndusInd Bank, Zomato, Larsen & Toubro, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consultancy Services were among the laggards.
On the other hand, Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Nestle India, Asian Paints, ITC, Sun Pharmaceuticals and ICICI Bank were the gainers.
“Global headwinds continue to drag the market sentiment, with the rise in US unemployment rates and tariffs leading to uncertainty, indicating that volatility is here to stay for the near term,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.
Nair said the domestic macros are favouring investors to start accumulating the beaten-down stocks with caution in the short term, while the long term appears attractive.
The BSE smallcap gauge declined 2.11 per cent while midcap index dropped 1.46 per cent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, Industrials, Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, Realty, Energy, Consumer Discretionary, Services, Auto, Commodities, metal, healthcare and Telecommunication were the laggards.
FMCG and Utilities were the gainers.
As many as 2,877 stocks declined while 1,203 advanced and 149 remained unchanged on the BSE.
“Sensex and Nifty50 closed lower primarily due to uncertainty surrounding US tariffs and concerns about ongoing foreign selling, which affected market sentiment,” Ameya Ranadive Chartered Market Technician, CFTe, Sr Technical Analyst, StoxBox, said.
“Markets were choppy as key benchmarks slipped into the red towards the closing stages with broader markets, particularly mid and small-cap stocks boring the brunt.
“With rupee depreciating sharply and foreign fund outflows showing no signs of cooling off, markets may continue to exhibit volatility,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 4,43,269.25 crore to Rs 3,93,85,818.73 crore (USD 4.51 trillion).
In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended on a mixed note.
European markets were trading lower in the mid-session deals. Wall Street settled on a positive note on Friday.
Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,035.10 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) outnumbered the FIIs by acquiring equities worth Rs 2,320.36 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.34 per cent to USD 70.60 a barrel.
On Friday, snapping its two-day winning streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 7.51 points to end at 74,332.58. However, the broader Nifty of NSE edged up 7.80 points to close at 22,552.50. (PTI)
