The stock market, which got off to a rousing start on Monday morning, the first trading day of the week, was hit by a bear attack in the afternoon. Following this, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex lost 503 points and the National Stock Exchange index 143 points.
Globally, market sentiment was mixed. Increased vulnerability to the Omicron virus in the UK has caused concern in global markets. Also, interest rate announcements by the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan were released this week. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors in the Indian market continue to sell shares and withdraw their investments. They sold shares worth Rs 33,799 crore in November and Rs 17,644 crore till December 10. This is to the detriment of the stock market. Stockbrokers said there was a major setback, especially for banking stocks.
Also, high-performing stocks, including Market Lead Reliance, HDFC Dual and Bajaj Finance, witnessed heavy selling. The market, which was particularly buoyant in the morning, was hit hard by a bear attack in the afternoon, the sources said.
1,868 shares of the stock market: Out of a total of 3,637 shares traded on the stock exchange, 1,608 shares declined. 1,868 shares gained. 161 shares remained unchanged. 317 stocks recorded new 52-week highs and 30 stocks recorded new lows. Also, 545 stocks recorded highs and lows, while 204 stocks fell further and lows. The market capitalization declined by Rs 1.19 lakh crore to Rs 266.49 lakh crore at the end of trading. The number of registered investors rose to 8.977 crore.
Sudden decline: In the morning, the Sensex opened 317.05 points higher at 59,103.72 and touched a high of 58,203.37. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by 503.25 points, or 0.86 per cent, to close at 58,283.42, following a sell-off in equities. The Sensex had lost 960.87 points in the morning trade. Out of a total of 30 top-ranked stocks in the Sensex, 23 stocks declined. Only 7 stocks came on the gain list.
Axis Bank Improvement: Axis Bank and Tech Mahindra led the Sensex up 2.38 per cent and 2.20 per cent, respectively. Also on the list were Maruti, Bow Grid, Titan, Sun Bomma and Dr Reddy.
Bajaj Finance collapse: Bajaj Finance, which had been gaining ground over the past week, fell 3.10 per cent to top the list. Further,
Leading corporate stocks, including Bajaj Fin Chow, Reliance, M&M, SBI, Nestle, HDFC, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, Hindu Unilever, Bothi Hotel and Bajaj Auto, fell 1 to 2.20 per cent. Infosys, TCS, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were among the losers.
Nifty falls 143 points: 919 shares gained on the National Stock Exchange. 968 shares fell. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 143.05 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 17,368.25. The morning high started at 17,619.10 and rose to a high of 17,639.50. Only 15 stocks gained in the Nifty list. 35 stocks fell.
ID code only upload: By sector, the Nifty ID index was up just 0.31 per cent. All other sector indices declined. Oil & Gas, PSU Bank, Realty and Media Indices fell 1 to 1.80 per cent.