Stock Market Closing: Sensex Falls 353 Points; Nifty Below 22,150; Adani Energy Rallies 9%

Sensex Today: Benchmark indices stayed lower on Monday amid broad-based profit booking. The S&P BSE Sensex closed 353 points, or 0.48 per cent, lower at 72,790 levels, while the Nifty50 shut shop at 22,122, down 91 points or 0.41 per cent.

Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Tech M, Titan, Bharti Airtel, JSW Steel, TCS, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, Infosys, HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, and ICICI Bank were the top laggards today as they cracked between 1 per cent and 4 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index slipped 0.38 per cent, and the BSE SmallCap 0.06 per cent. Volatility gauge, India VIX advanced 4.2 per cent.

Among sectors, the Nifty Auto index was the only gainer (up 0.08 per cent). The Nifty IT, Metal, Pharma, and Bank indices were the top losers, down up to 1.25 per cent.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said: “The global market construct continues to be favourable. With S&P 500 setting newer records the mother market US has turned very resilient . Japanese Nikkei at record highs is another pillar of support for global markets.Even though high valuation in India is a matter of concern, it is unlikely to impact the market much in the near-term. Cheap valuation in China is not attracting foreign investors.The market leadership is now with fundamentally strong bluechips like Reliance, ICICI Bank and Bharti. Sustained buying by DIIs (Rs 21700 crores in February so far) supported by HNIs and retail investors has completely eclipsed the FII selling. FIIs have lost in this tug of war with DIIs since the market has been scaling new highs despite FII selling.”

Global cues

Asian shares exhibited a mixed trend this morning. Japan’s Nikkei extended its record-run to quote 0.5 per cent higher, and Taiwan was up 0.2 per cent. On the other hand, Hang Seng, Shanghai, Kospi and Straits Times declined in the range of 0.5 – 1 per cent.

Over the weekend, the US stocks benchmark indices ended higher led by Nvidia. Dow and the S&P 500 logged new highs, but pared gains towards the close on worries over possible delay in rate cuts as strong economic growth and higher inflation weighed.

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield eased a wee bit to 4.223 per cent. Among commodities, Gold futures quoted around $2,040 per ounce, while Brent Oil dipped to $80.50 per barrel.