Equity markets slipped into negative territory on Monday, with key indices closing lower. The BSE Sensex ended the session in red, shedding 319.22 points or 0.41%, to settle at 77,186.74. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty 50 declined by 121.10 points, a 0.52% drop, closing at 23,361.05.
The Nifty Bank index also faced selling pressure, closing at 49,210.55, down 296.40 points or 0.60%.
The Nifty Midcap 50 index closed at 14,828.50, down by 97.15 points, a decline of 0.65%. Similarly, the Nifty Midcap 100 index ended the day at 497.35, falling by 497.35 points, or a drop of 0.93%. The Nifty Small cap 50 index ended the day at 7,980, down by 161.20 points, or 1.98%.
“Today, the benchmark indices witnessed profit booking, with the Nifty ends 121 points lower and the Sensex down by 319 points. Among sectors, the Defence index lost the most, shedding over 5 percent, while selective financial and IT stocks registered buying interest at lower levels,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.
“Technically, in the backdrop of weak global sentiment, our market opened with a gap down but found support near the 20-day SMA (Simple Moving Average) and reversed. We believe that the current market texture is volatile and non-directional; hence, level-based trading would be the ideal strategy,” he added.
Top gainers and losers
As of the close, the top gainers from the Sensex 30 pack were Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharti Airtel, Zomato, among others. Meanwhile the top losers included Power Grid Corporation of India, ITC, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro and so on.
The top 5 gainers from the Nifty 50 pack were Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, and Bajaj Finserv, while the top losers were Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consumer, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, and BEL.