Sensex falls 286 points, Nifty ends below 17,650; metals, IT stocks drag

Indian benchmark equity indices settled lower on Thursday tracking weak cues from global markets. Sensex closed at 59,126.36, down 286.91 points or 0.48%, while Nifty dropped 93.15 points or 0.53% to 17,618.15.

“Indian market opened on a flat note and slipped in the later half tracking weak global cues and fall in heavyweights. Worries over the US debt ceiling crisis and uptick in bond yield triggered further consolidation. The domestic market also got vigilant ahead the release of August’s core sector output data,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Top gainers & losers on the Sensex.

Sectoral strand

Most sectoral indices ended in the red on the NSE. Nifty Realty, closing 1.47% higher, was the top sectoral gainer followed by the Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Pharma, up 0.80% and 0.43% each.

On the downside, the Nifty Media index slumped 0.91%, Nifty Metal slipped 0.88% and Nifty Bank declined 0.84%. Nifty Auto, Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG lost anywhere between 0.11-0.72%.

The fear gauge index, India VIX cooled off 2.305% to 18.40 levels.

Broader markets

Unlike benchmark indices, broader markets ended with gains. The BSE MidCap index ended at 25,253 adding 83 points or 0.33% while the BSE SmallCap index advanced 155 points or 0.56% to 28,081.

The market breadth remained positive as 1,846 shares advanced compared to 1,425 declined while 153 remained unchanged.

Global markets

European shares edged higher while Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday.

China’s manufacturing PMI shrank in September 2021 to 49.6 from 50.1 in August 2021. The index contracted unexpectedly due to increased curtailment of electricity usage and rising input prices.

Meanwhile, China’s Caixin/Markit manufacturing PMI for the month rose to 50 compared with 49.2 in August.