The market ended lower for the fifth straight session on Wednesday, as investors got jittery over IMF slashing India's growth outlook. The Sensex fell 135 points or 0.36 per cent to close at an over two-month low of 37847.65 and the Nifty dropped 59.75 points or 0.53 per cent to 11271.30.
Top losers in the Sensex pack included IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, M&M, Vedanta and Maruti, falling up to 3.50 per cent.
On the other hand, Asian Paints was the biggest gainer, rallying 3.42 per cent, after the company reported an 18 per cent increase in consolidated net profit for the June quarter. HUL, HDFC twins, HCL Tech and ITC too ended in the green, spurting up to 2.06 per cent.
Sectorally, the BSE metal, auto, basic materials, oil and gas, industrials, realty, telecom, power and energy indices fell up to 2.48 per cent. FMCG was the sole gainer, adding 0.17 per cent.
The broader BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices plunged up to 1.48 per cent.
On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 2,607.97 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 2,625.10 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.
Technical View
Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities said, "the down trend continued in the market for the fifth consecutive session and the Nifty closed lower. A reasonable negative candle was formed on Wednesday with minor upper and lower shadow. This action signals that though minor buying is emerging from the low, the Nifty is failing to sustain the highs due to selling pressure.
The support of the last couple of sessions has been broken lower on Wednesday and the Nifty is now on the way down towards the next support of 11150-100 levels (previous swing low of mid of May) in the next few sessions, he further said.
Market View
"In the absence of any major domestic and global triggers, selling pressure could continue in the coming sessions, hence we maintain our cautious stance on the Indian markets in near term. The focus of investors would be on Q1FY20 earnings season, as it is likely to induce stock specific volatility. Globally, investors would keenly watch for Fed meeting scheduled on 30/31 July. We would advise Investors to stay focused on selective blue chip companies, while traders should strictly hedge their leveraged positions," said Ajit Mishra Vice President, Research, Religare Broking.
"Investors turned sellers on concerns that economy is moving through a slowdown phase. IMF lowered GDP growth forecast by 30 bps for 2019 based on weak domestic demand outlook which fuelled a sell off in a market where sentiment is already hurt due to tax concerns.
"Mixed Q1FY20 results, outflow of foreign funds and weakening rupee to weigh on investor sentiments going ahead," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
