Sensex falls more than 1,000 points as the widespread selling of Indian equities continues
May 9, 2024, New Delhi, India: Thursday’s intraday steep decline in Indian stock indexes followed a widespread sell-off in all sectoral indices.
Nifty dropped 345 points to settle at 21,957 points, while the Sensex lost 1,062 points to close at 72,404 points. Profit booking occurred at greater levels across virtually all of the key sectoral indexes, with the exception of the energy and metal indices, which had the worst losses, falling by roughly 3%.
According to analysts, the current market rise was short-lived due to a strong US currency, uncertainty around the result of the Lok Sabha elections after a pattern of declining voter participation in the three phases that went to vote, and profit booking.
The head of research at Geojit Financial Services, Vinod Nair, said that “the broader market witnessed volatility, underscoring caution on account of Q4 earnings and general election uncertainties, which led investors to stay on the sidelines.”
“The market dropped below the physiological threshold of 22,000, and we anticipate that the trend will continue in the near future. Ahead of the BOE policy meeting later today and the release of US inflation data the following week, the global markets are trading with conflicting clues, Nair said.
Analysts noted that lower-than-expected profits by some of the market-moving corporate giants and ongoing selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also affected investor mood.
Recently, foreign portfolio investors, or FPIs, have started selling Indian equities on the open market. According to data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who were net purchasers for the third month till mid-April, sold a total of Rs 8,671 crore worth of equities during the month. They have sold equities for Rs 10,413 crore so far in May.
The volatility indicator is still rising, which indicates that the present market mood could continue and that Nifty might shortly challenge the 21,800–21,850 range. Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd., encouraged traders to prioritize stock selection and modify their holdings as necessary.
