The Indian stock market extended losses into the fifth straight session as Sensex fell 751.05 points or 1.48 percent at 50138.71, and the Nifty was down 191.50 points or 1.28 percent at 14790.30 (intraday).
The market sentiment was dampened amid concerns over rising COVID-19 cases in India.
“The escalation in COVID cases in Maharashtra is emerging as a cause of concern. These concerns have impacted FPI flows to the market which, though positive, appears to be slowing down. Clear trends on these concerns have to be watched,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
IT, Auto and the PSU Bank index shed over 2 percent intraday on February 22. Among the IT names, Tech Mahindra was down over 3 percent followed by Wipro, Mphasis, HCL Tech and Tata Consultancy Services.
Auto stocks also came under pressure with Mahindra & Mahindra down over 4 percent which was also the top index loser followed by Maruti Suzuki and Eicher Motors.
The market was also pulled down by banks and financials as heavyweights including HDFC, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and SBI Life were trading down by 2-3 percent each.
Among the FMCG names, ITC fell over 3 percent and was one of the top drags while Nestle India, Godrej Consumer and Dabur India were among other losers.
Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking, is of the view that we need to keep a close eye on how Nifty behaves around its key support zone of 14,750 – 14,550.
“Only a sustainable breach of these crucial levels should be considered as a short-term trend reversal. On the flip side, 15,100 – 15,200 would be seen as immediate hurdles and any bounce towards this is most likely to get sold into,” he said.
However, the metal index was the only shining sector jumping to its highest level since October 2018, up over 3 percent led by Hindustan Copper which surged over 15 percent followed by Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, SAIL and Vedanta.
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