Sell-off in the second half of the session erased all the intraday gains with the benchmark indices ending flat March 16. At close, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 31.12 points or 0.06 percent at 50,363.96, while Nifty stood at 14,910.50 levels, down 19 points or 0.13 percent.
“Indian market is impacted due to rising crude prices and selling by both FIIs & DIIs. We can expect FII selling to calm down post the Fed policy meet and ease in US bond yields, as an accommodative outlook is expected,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
“The domestic sentiment is suppressed by rising COVID-19 cases increasing the risk of a second wave and fall in macro data like production & rise in inflation,” he said.
Among sectors, Nifty Bank, PSU Bank and Metal indices shed 0.8-1 percent, while FMCG and IT index added 0.9-1.2 percent each.
The broader indices outperformed the benchmarks with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ending in the green.
Cipla, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, BPCL and L&T were among the major losers, while gainers included Asian Paints, Dr Reddy’s Labs, HCL Technologies, HUL and TCS.
Stocks & sectors
On BSE, the IT index rose 1 percent while the FMCG pack added 0.9 percent. Realty, Metal, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods indices ended in the red.
A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in SAIL, PNB and Mphasis.
Long buildup was seen in Mphasis, Coforge, and Dr. Lal PathLabs while short buildup was seen in SAIL, PNB and The Ramco Cements.
More than 200 stocks, including Infosys, Orchid Pharma, Uflex, Cyient and Gland Pharma hit, a fresh 52-week high on the BSE.
Technical View
The Nifty formed a bearish candle on daily scale and continued its weakness for the third consecutive session.
“The Nifty has to decisively cross and hold above 15,000 zones to witness an up move 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 (MOFSL).
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