Sensex sheds 341 points as D-Street snaps 4-day winning run; metals lose sheen

NEW DELHI: Domestic equity benchmarks snapped a four-day winning run on Tuesday after a sharp selloff on Wall Street sent shockwaves across the world.

While metal, private bank and financial service stocks were the biggest losers for the day, gains in PSU bank and select auto securities provided some support to Dalal Street.

The 30-share pack Sensex declined 340.60 points or 0.69 per cent to close at 49,161.81. Its broader peer NSE Nifty dropped 91.60 points or 0.61 per cent to settle at 14,850.75.

Investors have become wary of inflation with a belief that central banks will start tapering now, say analysts.

“Commodity prices, like steel, are at a record high which has instilled a fear of rising inflation in the world markets. Global markets are retreating in anticipation of future interest rate hikes, in which the technology sector will be heavily impacted as it has benefitted the most during the pandemic," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Market at a glance:

• HFCL jumps 12% on multifold jump in profit, 5G plans
• Coal India top Nifty gainer for second straight day; up 6%
• Steel stocks see profit booking; JSW Steel top loser
• Broader markets outperform; Nifty Smallcap top gainer
• Fear gauge VIX declines further, down 2%

Among the blue chip stocks, Coal India was the top gainer, rising 5.85 per cent. NTPC, Indian Oil, ONGC, BPCL, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, UPL and Tata Steel were other gainers.

JSW Steel was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 3.38 per cent. Hindalco, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Divi’s Labs, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Life Insurance were other scrips that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended higher, performing better than their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap rose 0.82 per cent and Nifty Midcap climbed 0.79 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, fell 0.22 per cent.

Container Corporation, Coforge, REC, SpiceJet, Trident and Gujarat Narmada Fertilisers were top gainers from mid cap and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 4-10 per cent.

HEG, Firstsource Solutions, Welspun India, IndiaMart InterMesh, SAIL and Jindal Steel were major losers from the broader market space, falling in the range of 3-6 per cent.

The sectoral matrix on the NSE was mixed. Nifty PSU Bank was the top gainer, rising 1.12 per cent, followed by Nifty Media and Nifty Realty. Nifty Financial Service was the top loser, down 1.29 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal, which fell 0.92 per cent.

Market breadth was in favour of bulls as 1,845 stocks ended in the green while 1,204 counters settled with cuts. As many as 349 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 30 scrips hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space.

About 475 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 153 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading lower at the last count. London-based FTSE was down 2.31 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt declined 2.16 per cent and 2.35 per cent, respectively. In Asia, China gained while other markets closed in the red.