Indian equities plunged further for the third day on Monday with Nifty below 14,250 mark. Sustained selling pressure was seen in index heavyweights which pulled the market down. Energy, IT and auto stocks declined whereas metals and pharma stocks were in green.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap index was down 1.14% and 1.15% respectively.
At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex declined 530.95 points or 1.09% at 48,347.59 with 20 components posting drop. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty went down by 133 points or 0.93% at 14,238.90 with 36 components registering drop.
ITC contributed fall of 67.79 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Tata Motors (57.06 points), Housing Development Finance Corporation (44.89 points), Infosys (44.42 points) and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (34.46 points).
However, HDFC Bank contributed rise of 49.54 points in the Sensex. It was followed by ICICI Bank (32.9 points), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (22.62 points), Bajaj Auto (13.62 points) and Hero Motocorp (12.68 points).
Major gainers in the 30-share index were Axis Bank (2.19%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (2%), Bajaj Auto (1.76%), Bajaj Finserv (1.47%), HDFC Bank (1.30%), and Dr Reddy's (1.02%).
On the other hand, Reliance Industries (5.36%), Indusind Bank (4.72%), HCL Technologies (3.80%), Asian Paints (3.17%), UltraTech Cement (3.04%) and Power Grid Corporation Of India (2.16%) were the major losers in the Sensex.
Market breadth was negative with 932 advances against 2,040 declines.
Prashanth Tapse, AVP, Research Head said, "Technically speaking, from a chartist standpoint, all bullish eyes will be on if the benchmark can close above the psychological 50,000 mark on Sensex. Despite last two day's drop, the sequence of higher high/lows is intact on all-time frames. The options data for January Series suggests Nifty is likely to be in a broader trading range of 14,000-14,600 as maximum Call OI is at 15,000. Maximum Put open interest stands at 14,000 levels. Call writing was seen at 14,500 and then at 14,600 strike price, while there was meaningful Put writing at 13,800. Well, the said data indicates a wide trading range between 13,800 and 14,600 levels."
"For perma-bull investors, the gyan mantra is to establish long positions on any sharp corrective declines while aggressive traders can look to sell with strict stop near nifty all times high," opined Tapse.
"Amongst momentum stocks looking bright on any corrective declines are-Coromandel International (Crin), Mindtree, Reliance Industries, JB Chemical, Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS Wipro, Nippon Life India Asset Management, Siemens and Lupin," he added.
"Meanwhile, we are negative on stocks like- Indusind Bank, LIC Housing Finance, PVR, Indigo, Motherson Sumi, Zee Entertainment and Equitas," recommended Tapse.