Equity markets slipped into negative territory on Monday, with key indices closing lower. The BSE Sensex ended the session in red, shedding 319.22 points or 0.41%, to settle at 77,186.74. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty 50 declined by 121.10 points, a 0.52% drop, closing at 23,361.05.
The Nifty Bank index also faced selling pressure, closing at 49,210.55, down 296.40 points or 0.60%.
The Nifty Midcap 50 index closed at 14,828.50, down by 97.15 points, a decline of 0.65%. Similarly, the Nifty Midcap 100 index ended the day at 497.35, falling by 497.35 points, or a drop of 0.93%. The Nifty Small cap 50 index ended the day at 7,980, down by 161.20 points, or 1.98%.
“Today, the benchmark indices witnessed profit booking, with the Nifty ends 121 points lower and the Sensex down by 319 points. Among sectors, the Defence index lost the most, shedding over 5 percent, while selective financial and IT stocks registered buying interest at lower levels,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.
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“Technically, in the backdrop of weak global sentiment, our market opened with a gap down but found support near the 20-day SMA (Simple Moving Average) and reversed. We believe that the current market texture is volatile and non-directional; hence, level-based trading would be the ideal strategy,” he added.
Top gainers and losers
As of the close, the top gainers from the Sensex 30 pack were Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharti Airtel, Zomato, among others. Meanwhile the top losers included Power Grid Corporation of India, ITC, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro and so on.
The top 5 gainers from the Nifty 50 pack were Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, and Bajaj Finserv, while the top losers were Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consumer, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, and BEL.
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