The Indian equity benchmarks were not able to sustain the morning up move and soon turned sharply lower in line with their Asian peers as recession fears continue to grip the global market sentiment. The Sensex fell as much as 506 points from day’s high and Nifty 50 index fell below its important psychological level of 15,250 after touching an intraday high of 15,363.
As of 9:45 am, the Sensex was down 287 points at 51,073 and Nifty 50 index fell 84 points to 15,210.
Asian shares were unable to sustain a rare rally on Monday as Wall Street futures shed early gains amid worries the U.S. Federal Reserve would this week underline its commitment to fighting inflation with whatever rate hikes were needed.
The euro also softened slightly after French President Emmanuel Macron lost control of the National Assembly in legislative elections on Sunday, a major setback that could throw the country into political paralysis.
Trade was thinned by a U.S. holiday and Nasdaq futures soon went flat, having been up more than 1 per cent at one stage, while S&P 500 futures eased 0.2 per cent. EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell 0.6 per cent and FTSE futures 0.3 per cent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.8 per cent and Tokyo's Nikkei 1.4 per cent.
Chinese blue chips held steady perhaps aided by news President Joe Biden was considering removing some tariffs on China.
Back home, selling pressure was broad-based twelve of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Metal index's 4 per cent plunge. Nifty Oil & Gas, PSU Bank, Realty and Media indices also fell between 1-2 per cent.
On the other hand, select FMCG and healthcare shares were witnessing buying interest.
Mid- and small-cap shares were also facing selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indexes fell over 1 per cent each.
Tata Steel was top Nifty loser, the stock fell nearly 5 per cent to Rs 864. ONGC, Hindalco, Coal India, JSW Steel, UPL, Adani Ports, Power Grid, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro and Mahindra & Mahindra also fell between 1.4-4.6 per cent.
On the flipside, HDFC, Hindustan Unilever, Apollo Hospitals, Sun Pharma, Eicher Motors, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints and Ultratech Cement were among the notable gainers.
The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 1,961 shares were declining while 771 were advancing on the BSE.
(With inputs from Reuters)
