NEW DELHI: After a robust start to Samvat 2080 during which the market registered logged noticeable gain in the one-hour Muhurat Trading session, domestic markets witnessed selling pressure on Monday with the benchmark indices falling about half a percentage each.
The BSE Sensex closed 325.58 points, or 0.50%, lower on Monday at 64,933.87, while the NSE Nifty 50 fell 82 points, or 0.42%, to shut shop at 19,443.55. Broader market indices - small-cap and mid-cap indexes - also fell on Monday. The Sensex and the Nifty had gained up to 0.55 % during the Mahurat trading session on Sunday on all-round buying. Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said that post-Diwali, Indian equities continued consolidation amid global uncertainty.
“The sharp deceleration in II P growth, from 10.3% in August to 5.8% in September, and weakening Manufacturing PMI reflects global trends driven by rising interest rates and inflation. The Indian Rupee’s weakness keeps FII s cautious,” added Nair. Among sectoral indices, Nifty Metal and Nifty PSU Bank were the only two gainers. Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty IT fell the most on Monday.
Among stocks, Coal India jumped more than 4% and Eicher Motors 2% after a strong Q2 earning report. Shares of SBI Life, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Life and Tech Mahindra were the biggest laggards.
Meanwhile, India’s $3.7 trillion stock market may see a disruption in 2024 due to the upcoming general elections, said Morgan Stanley in a report. The global financial agency expects the local stocks to rise leading to the vote in keeping with recent history but an outcome outside of investors’ expectations could lead to up to 30% correction in benchmark indices. A “credible seat-sharing arrangement” within the opposition alliance led by Indian National Congress, called I.N.D.I.A, will “polarizes the general elections and reduce the predictability of the outcome in May,” said analysts at Morgan Stanley.