Equity benchmarks deepened their losses by Friday afternoon, extending the bearish momentum for the fifth straight session as selling pressure intensified across banking and IT sectors. The BSE Sensex fell 460.89 points or 0.58 per cent to 78,757.16, while the NSE Nifty declined 114.45 points or 0.48 per cent to 23,837.25 around 12.40 PM.
Market breadth remained negative with 2,187 stocks declining versus 1,659 advances on the BSE. The selloff impacted broader markets as well, with the Nifty Next 50 dropping 0.68 per cent to 70,145.50 and the Nifty Midcap Select falling 0.86 per cent to 12,915.50.
Banking stocks continued their downward trajectory, with the Nifty Bank index sliding 0.51 per cent to 51,315.00. Similarly, the Nifty Financial Services index shed 0.44 per cent to 23,801.90. Among major banking stocks, Axis Bank emerged as one of the top losers, declining 1.96 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, which fell 1.63 per cent.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories led the gainers on the Nifty, rising 2.61 per cent, followed by Hindalco Industries at 1.48 per cent. Other notable gainers included Maruti Suzuki (0.86 per cent), Adani Enterprises (0.85 per cent), and Asian Paints (0.69 per cent).
On the losing side, Tech Mahindra witnessed the steepest decline of 2.06 per cent. Other significant losers included Larsen & Toubro dropping 1.70 per cent and UltraTech Cement falling 1.60 per cent.
The market showed signs of broader weakness with 217 stocks reaching 52-week highs compared to 30 stocks touching 52-week lows. Circuit filters were triggered for several stocks, with 278 hitting the upper circuit and 205 touching the lower circuit limits.
The continued selling pressure follows substantial foreign investor outflows earlier this week, with overseas investors having sold ₹12,230.30 crore worth of Indian equities over four sessions. The cautious sentiment persists following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s recent hawkish commentary regarding potential interest rate cuts in 2025, while global factors including Japan’s inflation data and China’s lending rates have added to market uncertainty.
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Published on December 20, 2024
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/stock-markets/markets-extend-losses-as-banks-it-lead-decline-dr-reddys-bucks-trend/article69008138.ece
