NEW DELHI: Domestic equity indices plunged further on Monday, extending the losing streak to the fifth session in a row, on losses in bank, financial and auto stocks amid a fresh fall in the rupee against the US dollar and weak global cues.
The market reeled under pressure in the absence of positive triggers, as trade war worries hit stocks globally after new US tariffs on China came into effect.
Back home, the rupee's fresh fall against the dollar and a surge in global crude oil prices roiled investor sentiment. The Sensex plunged 537 points, or 1.46 per cent, to close at 36,305 while the Nifty50 finished at 10,967, with a loss of 176 points or 1.58 per cent.
Volatility index India VIX jumped over 13 per cent, indicating nervousness in the market. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices suffered more losses than the benchmark Sensex, tanking 2.40 per cent and 2.72 per cent, respectively.
Lets walk you through the highlights of Monday's session:
Who dragged my Sensex
Barring five stocks — TCS (up 4.51 per cent), Coal India (up 2.10 per cent), Infosys (up 1.56 per cent), Reliance Industries (up 1.27 per cent) and NTPC (up 0.57 per cent) — all others failed to perform on Monday. ONGC settled flat. In terms of percentage losers, M&M plunged the most at 6.46 per cent followed by HDFC (down 6.22 per cent), IndusInd Bank (down 4.94 per cent), Adani Ports (down 4.49 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 4 per cent) and Tata Motors (down 3.98 per cent).
Rupee's fresh fall
The rupee more damage as the US dollar strengthened on buying by banks and importers. Higher oil prices also hit the domestic currency as the greenback strengthened against other overseas currencies. The US dollar rose against major currencies amid profit booking in the British pound and a decline in the euro. Rating agency Moody's said the government measures to check fiscal deficit are unlikely to reverse the rupee slide, and perhaps might even hurt the currency more.
Oil on the boil
Crude oil prices surged to hit four-year high on Monday, ahead of US sanctions on Iran, as Opec countries declined to increase production immediately. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures surged 2 per cent to over $80 a barrel as markets have tightened ahead of the start of sanctions by the United States on Iran, Reuters reported.
MACD bearish on 106 stocks
Momentum indicator moving average convergence divergence, or MACD, on Monday showed bearish crossovers on 106 counters on NSE. Among the stocks that saw bearish crossovers were Tata Steel, Jindal Stainless, MTNL, Grasim, Bajaj Auto, Corporation Bank and Mirc Electronics. On the other hand, only three stocks – TCS, TD Power Systems and Oswal Agro Mills – showed bullish crossovers on NSE.
IT bucked the trend
The fall in the rupee gave a legup to IT stocks, as most among them traded with gains in a weak market. Nifty IT index closed 2.27 per cent higher on gains in Infibeam Avenues, TCS, Infosys, OFSS, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech. However, Tata Elxsi, KPIT Technologies, Mindtree and Wipro failed to perform. Shares of TCS hit its 52-week high of Rs 2,214.15. MACD and trend intensity (TI) indicators showed the stock is in an uptrend.
Realty, auto, finance, telecom top sectoral losers
BSE Realty (down 5.10 per cent), BSE Auto (down 3.75 per cent), BSE Finance (down 3.46 per cent) and BSE Telecom (down 3.30 per cent) indices were the top losers among the sectoral indices. Barring IT, TecK and energy indices, others closed the day in the red.
Nearly 340 stocks hit 52-week lows
As many as 339 stocks, including YES Bank, Aditya Birla Capital, Allahabad Bank, APL Apollo Tubes, Ashoka Buildcon and BEML hit 52-week lows on NSE in Monday's trade. Only nine stocks, including Monnet Ispat & Energy, Delta Magnets, Gangotri Textiles and Wipro, managed to touch their 52-week highs on NSE.
Stocks that plunged over 10%
Central Bank of India (down 17.43 per cent), Arshiya (down 14.72 per cent), Linc Pen Plastics (down 14.56 per cent), CreditAccess Grameen (down 11.83 per cent), Puravankara (down 11.78 per cent), Ajmera Realty (down 11.07 per cent) and Filatex India (down 10.71 per cent) featured among stocks that plunged over 10 per cent on BSE.
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