In a departure from its remarkable 11-day winning streak, the Sensex faced a downturn on Monday, shedding approximately 242 points due to profit-taking activities in the metal, banking, and telecom sectors, influenced by weak global trends. The benchmark index, which had recently scaled record highs, witnessed a pullback. The 30-share BSE Sensex registered a decline of 241.79 points or 0.36%, settling at 67,596.84 after a day of volatile trading. At its lowest point during the session, it fell by 305.8 points or 0.45% to reach 67,532.83.
Similarly, the broader Nifty retreated from its all-time high, concluding at 20,133.30, down by 59.05 points or 0.29%. Of its 50 constituents, 26 closed in the red, while 24 showed advances.
The Sensex had recently surged to an all-time high of 67,838.63 after an uninterrupted 11-day winning streak, while the Nifty achieved a record high of 20,192.35 on Friday, boosted by favorable macroeconomic data.
HDFC Bank bore the brunt of the decline among the Sensex firms, with a drop of 1.98%. Bharti Airtel (1.71%), Infosys (1.4%), Tata Steel (1.21%), UltraTech Cement (1.19%), Wipro (1.17%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.02%), Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, and JSW Steel also contributed to the dip.
On the brighter side, Power Grid, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, and NTPC recorded gains.
Market analysts attribute the reversal to profit-taking in banking, realty, IT, and telecom stocks, in addition to concerns about rising global crude oil prices, an uptick in the dollar index, and US treasury yields. Additionally, investors have scaled back their positions ahead of the outcome of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on interest rates scheduled for Wednesday.
Global headwinds and heightened valuations in the domestic indices following the recent surge have contributed to investor unease, potentially resulting in further profit-taking in the near term.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, noted that the market’s confidence has been impacted by expectations of increased demand in China and crude supply cuts, coupled with concerns about Fed rate hikes, as reflected in elevated US bond yields.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined by 0.60%, while the midcap index slipped 0.27%.
Various sectoral indices saw declines, with telecommunications falling by 1.86%, realty by 1.27%, commodities by 0.96%, teck by 0.92%, metal by 0.89%, and services by 0.74%. On the other hand, Consumer Discretionary, FMCG, utilities, auto, and power sectors experienced gains.
In international markets, Seoul and Hong Kong concluded lower, while Shanghai ended on a positive note. European markets traded lower, and the US markets closed in negative territory on Friday.
The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, inched up by 0.39% to reach USD 94.30 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Friday, acquiring equities worth Rs 164.42 crore, according to exchange data.
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