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Arresting the four-day slide, the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 closed marginally higher amid volatility on Monday.
The market opened on a positive note amid mixed global cues, but turned volatile through the day, oscillating between losses and gains. Gains were supported by bank stocks, led by ICICI, which remained in focus after strong Q2 FY 2022 results.
The BSE Sensex closed at 60,967.05, up 145.43 points or 0.24 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 61,404.99 and a low of 60,449.68. The Nifty 50 closed at 18,125.40, up 10.50 points or 0.06 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 18,241.40 and a low of 17,968.50.
Over 2,300 stocks decline
The market breadth continued to remain in favour of the decliners, with 2,312 stocks declining on the BSE, 1,048 advancing and 170 remaining unchanged. Furthermore, 357 stocks hit the lower circuit as compared to the 266 stocks that were locked in the upper circuit. Besides, 206 stocks touched a 52-week high, and 50 touched a 52-week low.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Market opened weak, however strong support from banking stocks helped to balance the bearish pressure, and lifted the indices to trade on a flat note. Improved asset quality and business growth based on key Q2 earnings aided the banking sector to improve the outlook, leading to outperformance.”
“Global markets were steady in anticipation of robust quarter earnings in the backdrop of inflation fears, and a possible tightening of monetary policy in the next policies," added Nair.
ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, ONGC, Tech Mahindra and JSW Steel were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while BPCL, Bajaj Finserv, SBI Life, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors were the top laggards.
Most sectors down
On the sectoral front, a majority of indices closed in the red. Auto, IT, realty and consumer durables recorded the highest losses, while financials and healthcare stocks gained.
Nifty Bank was up 2.15 per cent at closing, while Nifty Financial Services was up 1.33 per cent. Nifty Private Bank and Nifty PSU Bank were up 2.16 per cent and 1.10 per cent, respectively. The Nifty Healthcare Index was up 0.28 per cent.
Meanwhile, Nifty Auto was down 1.80 per cent, while Nifty IT was down 1.10 per cent. Nifty Realty was down 2.77 per cent, while Nifty Consumer Durables was down 1.35 per cent.
IRCTC remains under pressure
Midcaps and smallcaps continued to witness selling pressure with the broader indices closing in the red. IRCTC continues to witness heavy selling for the fourth straight day. The stock on Monday crashed another 13 per cent. Naukri, Godrej Agro, Adani Power and L&T Finance Holdings tumbled between 4.5 and 5.5 per cent.
The Nifty Midcap 50 was down 2.04 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 3.01 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 1.65 per cent, while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 1.76 per cent.
Among the small-caps, Suven Life plunged close to 12 per cent, while RVNL, MSTC, Apollo Pipes and Vadilal slumped almost 10 per cent.
The volatility index closed 0.37 per cent higher at 17.61.