Sensex slumps over 450 points, Nifty slips below 19,550; MMTC, Kalyan Jewellers down up to 10%

Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply in Thursday's early trade amid weak global cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 471 points or 0.71 per cent to trade at 65,406, while the NSE Nifty was down 124 points or 0.63 per cent to trade at 19,547. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were also weak as Nifty Midcap 100 was down 0.56 per cent and small-cap slipped 0.48 per cent.

Investors turned cautious as worries of escalating tensions in the Middle East triggered volatility in oil prices. Asian markets declined today. Overnight, all three major Wall Street indexes lost over 1 per cent. Brent crude futures rose to a high of $93 per barrel.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Indian shares worth Rs 1,832 crore on a net basis during the previous session while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,470 crore.

"Long-term investors can capitalise on the decline in banking stocks triggered by FII selling, through a calibrated accumulation strategy. This segment is doing well and the valuations are fair, even attractive," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

All the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Metal, Nifty Pharma and Nifty FMCG were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.52 per cent, 0.80 per cent, 1.48 per cent, 0.82 per cent and 0.57 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Wipro was the top loser in the Nifty pack as the stock cracked 3.30 per cent to trade at Rs 394. Hindalco, HDFC Life, PowerGrid and Tata Steel fell up to 2.29 per cent.

In contrast, Bajaj Auto, LTI Mindtree, IndusInd Bank, BPCL and Hero MotoCorp were among the top gainers.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1,844 shares were declining while 1,126 were advancing on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, L&T, Tata Consutancy Services (TCS) and Bajaj Finance were among the top laggards.

Also, MMTC, Kalyan Jewellers, Astral, Shoppers Stop, Ion Exchange and UTI Asset Management Company plunged up to 10 per cent. On the other hand, Fineotex Chemical, NBCC, Kirloskar Pneumatic, Firstsource Solutions and RattanIndia Power jumped up to 6.19 per cent.

Nifty outlook

Inability to breach 19,730 on the bounce could point to potential break down in the coming days towards 19,500-19,200, said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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