Indian equities wrapped today's session on a dismal note amid global selloff. All sectoral indices ended in deep red with metals bleeding the most followed by banks, pharma, realty and auto.
At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex declined 524.96 points or 0.89% at 58,490.93 with 12 components posting drop. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty went down by 188.25 points or 1.07% at 17,396.90 with 23 components posting drop.
Biggest losers in the 30-share index were Tata Steel (9.53%), State Bank of India (3.69%), IndusInd Bank (3.50%), HDFC (2.90%), Dr Reddy's (2.30%), M&M (2.25%), UltraTech Cement (2.07%), Sun Pharma (1.78%) and Axis Bank (1.55%).
On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever (2.84%), Bajaj Finserv (1.10%), ITC (1.08%), HCL Technologies (0.88%), Nestle (0.70%), Bajaj Finance (0.21%), and Reliance Industries (0.15%) were the major gainers in the Sensex.
Market breadth was negative with 1,041 advances against 2,332 declines.
Global markets were weak with Chinese, Japanese and Korean markets closed for holiday. European markets fell to a near two-month low and Germany's benchmark index sank 2%, as investors fear that the major central banks would start giving cues about tapering their stimulus programmes at their meetings this week. Asian equities also skidded following a torrid session for China Evergrande, the world's most indebted property developer, whose bond interest payment is due on Thursday.
Commenting on recent movement on metals, Navneet Damani, Head of Commodities & Currencies Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services opined, 'Metals have been under pressure today on buzz over Chinese firm Evergrande facing financial trouble and speculation over default on debt payment, which has led to a selloff in most risky assets. Metals complex has been roaring since the start of the year and looked quite overheated given the change in stance from Fed over its bond purchase programme and weaker data coming out of China over the last couple of months.'
He further added, 'Some metals have doubled from lows hit in 2020 and could find it difficult to sustain such highs, given the rapidly changing macros and spread of the virus once again. The market may have found its reason for a cool off / correction and we remain cautious on most metals in the short term. Medium term picture still looks promising, but the weak hands will have to find their way out in the short run.'
While commenting on the market outlook, Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services stated, "Investors are cautious ahead of Federal Reserve and ECB meeting this week, awaiting indications as to when the central bank will start withdrawing its monetary stimulus and start raising interest rates eventually. This along with worry over slower economic growth and rising Delta variant cases globally continue to keep market nervous. Even valuations are not comfortable and hence could lead to bouts of profit booking. Thus, traders should adopt stock specific approach while investors could tap this opportunity to accumulate quality stocks."
