Sensex, Nifty edge lower tracking Asian markets; Yes Bank, UCO Bank, Voda Idea most active

Share Market Updates Today: Indian equity benchmarks slipped into the red after opening higher in early deals on Monday amid weak cues from the Asian markets. Investor sentiment got hit by recession fears in the US and hawkish commentary from major central banks.

Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 66 points or 0.11 per cent to trade at 61,272, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 7 points or 0.04 per cent down to trade at 18,262. Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange climbed 33 points or 0.18 per cent to trade at 18,351, hinting at a slightly higher start for the domestic market.

HCL Technologies, Infosys, Sun Pharma, TCS, Tech Mahindra and Wipro were among the top laggards on the NSE platform today with their shares down as much as 1.30 per cent. In contrast, PowerGrid, Hindalco, Dr Reddy's, IndusInd Bank and Apollo Hospitals were among the top gainers.

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Mid- and small-cap shares were mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.17 per cent and small-cap gained 0.22 per cent.

Six out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma were underperforming the NSE platform by falling 0.64 per cent and 0.45 per cent, respectively. On the flip side, Nifty PSU Bank rose 0.51 per cent.

The overall market breadth stood slightly weak as 1,187 shares were seen advancing while 691 were declining on BSE.

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, Yes Bank, UCO Bank, Voda Idea, Suzlon, NFL, Paramount Communications, Shree Renuka Sugars, PNB and JP Power were the most active stocks on the NSE platform, in terms of volume.

On the global front, Asian shares slipped today. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.11 per cent, South Korea's Kospi shed 0.31 per cent and China's Shanghai Composite dropped 1.31 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.21 per cent lower.

All three major US stock indexes settled sharply lower on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 282 points or 0.85 per cent to close at 32,920.46; the S&P 500 plunged 43 points or 1.11 per cent to finish at 3,852.36; and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 105 points or 0.97 per cent to settle at 10,705.41.

"The synchronised rate hikes by the leading central banks of the world and their hawkish tone impacted market sentiments last week with Nifty closing below the near-term support of 18400. While this risk-off can continue to impact the market, there are positive triggers too, like steadily declining inflation in the US and the hope that the Fed will respond to this with a pause in rate hikes in early 2023," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Stocks in F&O ban

Balrampur Chini Mills, BHEL, Delta Corp, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC), Indiabull Housing Finance, IRCTC and PNB are in F&O (Futures and Options) ban period today. Stocks are placed under F&O ban when the derivative contracts in their securities cross 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit.

FII-DII data

Foreign institutional investors sold Rs 1,975.44 crore worth of equities on a net basis on Friday, while domestic investors bought Rs 1,542.50 crore of shares, as per provisional NSE data.

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