The benchmark indices ended lower for the second consecutive session on March 15, with the Nifty finishing below 15,000. At close, the Sensex was down 397 points, or 0.78 percent, at 50,395.08 and the Nifty was down 101.50 points, or 0.68 percent, at 14,929.50.
Weakness in national macro data and rise in global bond yield ahead of the crucial Fed monetary policy meeting dented domestic momentum, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Both retail and wholesale inflation inclined higher than estimated in February, while industrial production contracted in January 2021.
“However, optimism in European and other Asian markets helped to recover from the sharp initial losses. We can expect this volatility to stabilise based on the global outlook post a confirmation from Fed to maintain an accommodative policy,” Nair said.
Among sectors, metal, IT and PSU bank indices ended in the green, while selling was witnessed in the auto, infra and pharma sectors. BSE Midcap and smallcap indices ended 0.5 percent lower.
Divis Labs, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, Bajaj Finserv and GAIL were among the major losers on the Nifty. Gainers included JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid Corp and IndusInd Bank.
Stocks & sectors
On the BSE, except IT, metal and power, all other sectoral indices ended in the red.
A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in Bank of Baroda, Pidilite Industries and SAIL.
Long buildup was seen in Coforge, Bank of Baroda and Dr. Lal PathLabs while short buildup was seen in AU Smal Bank, Trent and APL Apollo.
More than 200 stocks, including Mindtree, IFCI, KPR Mill and Delta Corp hit, a fresh 52-week high on the BSE.
Technical View
The Nifty formed a bearish hammer sort of candle on the daily chart with long lower shadow, indicating that declines were being bought in the market. It continued its lower-lows formation of the last two sessions and got stuck in the range.
“The Nifty has to decisively cross and hold above the 15,000 zone to witness an upmove towards 15,150 and 15,250 zones, while on the downside, major support exists at 14,750 then 14,600 levels,” said Chandan Taparia of Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
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