MUMBAI: A global sell-off in stocks on fears of the rising cost of money drove Indian benchmarks lower by a percentage each at close. The Nifty tanked almost 200 points to close at 18113.05 and the Sensex shed 554 points to close at 60754.86.
The top five Nifty losers included Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra , HCL Technologies and Tata Steel, which ended between 3% and 4% lower on Tuesday European indices CAC and DAX traded almost a percent lower each while Dow futures were down 319 points at 1900 hrs IST.
Analysts have attributed Indian stocks’ fall to profit booking and recommended buying on dips.
“Despite today’s (Tuesday’s) correction, we are not seeing any structural damage yet, rather it should be considered as a profit booking after the recent relentless run,” said Sameet Chavan, chief analyst, technical and derivatives, Angel One.
“As far as levels are concerned, 18000 followed by 17900 (should) be treated as key support and if today’s decline was merely a profit booking (one), the market should attract some buying interest around mentioned supports. On the flipside, since the volatility has increased a bit, the resistance remains slightly higher at 18250 - 18350,” he added.
The put call ratio of active week options expiring this Thursday fell to 0.6, indicating a bearish build up.
Analysts said if the 17900- 18000 level support is held, bears could be forced to cover their short positions.