From a technical point of view, the Nifty50 index recorded a breakdown on the daily charts, which suggests that pressure could remain in the near term.
It was a Manic Monday on D-Street! The bears took control from the word go and the selling only got extended as the session progressed.
Unimpressed by the stimulus package from the government, investors dumped financials along with auto and real-estate stocks.
Investors lost by Rs 3 lakh crore in terms of market capitalisation on the BSE. The average market capitalisation of the BSE-listed companies dropped from Rs 122.66 lakh crore on May 15 to Rs 119 lakh crore as May 18.
The S&P BSE Sensex plunged more than 1,000 points while the Nifty50 slipped below 8,850 .
From a technical point of view, the Nifty recorded a breakdown on the daily charts, which suggests that pressure could remain in the near term.
"With the stimulus package announced by the government, not seen as adequate considering the need of the hour and with infections continuing unabated, the markets ended down by around 3.4% in spite positive global cues,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services told Moneycontrol.
“Most measures may be seen as a long-term positive and markets were more worried about the immediate impact of these measures. With concerns about rising NPAs, financials were most affected. Uncertainty is likely to continue impacting market performance.”
Let’s look at the final tally on D-Street: the Sensex plunged 1,068 points to 30,028 while the Nifty50 fell 313 points to close at 8,823.
Sectorally, selling pressure was visible in banks, finance, auto, realty, public sector, and capital goods stocks while some buying was seen in IT stocks.
On the broader markets front, the S&P BSE Midcap index was down 3.8 percent while the S&P BSE Smallcap index plunged 2.9 percent.
"Indian indices ended lower (contrary to the trend in Asian and European markets) for the third consecutive day on May 18 as details of Rs 20-lakh- crore stimulus package announced by the Finance Minister over Wed-Sun disappointed listed corporates and market participants. Extension of lockdown and large additions of COVID-19 cases also dampened spirits," said Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
"Financials, aviation, auto, metals, oil & gas and media stocks came under heavy selling pressure while IT and pharma stocks rose," he said.
Top Nifty gainers included Bharti Infratel, TCS, and Cipla.
Top Nifty losers included UltraTech Cements, Eicher Motors, ZEE Entertainment and IndusInd Bank.
Stocks & Sectors
Sectorally, the S&P BSE Bankex plunged 6.6 percent followed by the S&P BSE Finance index that was down 6.65 percent and the S&P BSE Auto index fell 5.5 percent.
Buying was seen in the IT space as the S&P BSE IT index was up 1.3 percent.
A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in stocks like M&M Finance, Page Industries, Petronet LNG, Wipro, Adani Enterprises, and Idea Cellular.
Long Buildup was seen in stocks like Apollo Tyres and Torrent Pharma.
Short Buildup was seen in stocks like Chola Finance, PVR, BEL, Canara Bank, and Ramco Cements.
More than 140 stocks on the BSE hit a fresh 52-week low. It includes Inox Leisure, Shoppers Stop, PVR, Prestige Estate and India Hotels.
Stocks in news
Nippon Life India Asset Management | Shares fell 6 percent after a sharp decline in profitability for the quarter ended March 2020. Most analysts remained bullish on the stock, citing a change in ownership that could gain credibility in the market going forward.
Zen Technologies | The share jumped almost 10 percent after the company said it was looking to commercially manufacture ventilators fighting COVID-19.
Aviation stocks tumble | Share prices of SpiceJet and Interglobe Aviation tanked 4-8 percent after executives said the measures announced by the FM wouldn't ease the stress the aviation industry was facing.
Auto stocks tumble | Auto stocks were down almost 9 percent as the COVID-led disruption has hit the sector hard. Many experts are of the view that the financial year 2020-21 may be a washout for the sector.
Banks take a beating | Banking names tumbled up to 10 percent led by IndusInd Bank after the FM on May 17 said debts related to COVID-19 would be excluded from the "default" category under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for one year.
Realty stocks hit | Most realty stocks suffered strong losses, with Prestige Estates tanking over 9 percent followed by Phoenix Mills, Oberoi Realty, DLF, Indiabulls Real Estate and Godrej Properties.
Technical View:
The Nifty formed a bearish candle on the daily charts and closed below 5-day EMA.
The index also recorded a breakdown below 9,000 and found support near 8,800.
The downside pattern target of previous bearish island reversal pattern of May 4 was reached on May 18 at 8,911 and the Nifty closed below it.
“The Nifty is currently showing negative sequential movement like lower highs and lows in the last couple of weeks. This is a negative indication and any attempt of intra-week rise is expected to find selling pressure at the highs,” Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.
“The short-term trend of the Nifty is negative, any attempt of upside bounce could find resistance around 8950-9000. Next downside levels to be watched at 8500 in the next one week,” he said.Moneycontrol Virtual Summit presents 'The Future of Indian Industry', powered by Salesforce
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