BSE Sensex is trading down by more than 845 points as the markets face headwinds from global factors and the mood in general elections, besides the Iran-Israel conflict.
Sensex was trading at 73,299.78 points, down by 845.12 points at the time of markets closure on Monday. Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, SBI, and Wipro are down more than 1 per cent in trade.
Overall, the market breadth is extremely negative on Monday with more than 74 per cent of the stocks declining. Only 22 per cent of the stocks are advancing. As many as 2,924 stocks are declining while only 886 are advancing.
While the Sensex is down more than 845 points, the extent of the fall in the broader markets is far more accentuated as the advance-decline ratio suggests.
While the benchmark Sensex is down 0.7 per cent, the BSE IPO index is down sharply by 1.77 per cent. Similarly, the financial services index is down 1.2 per cent, the IT index is down 1.3 per cent, Services index is down 1.6 per cent.
Selling pressure on mid-caps
There is selling pressure in the mid-caps stocks with the BSE Small Cap Select Index down 1.2 per cent. Among the top losers on Monday, IFCI is down more than 6 per cent, NBCC is down more than 4 per cent, Castrol is down more than 4 per cent, and Hindustan Zinc is down 4 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, Tech Mahindra is down 2 per cent, and ICICI Bank is down almost 2 per cent. IT and financials are trading weak on Monday.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said that there are many headwinds that will weigh on markets on Monday including the renewed conflict in the Middle East, proposed changes in the India-Mauritius tax treaty and the hotter-than-expected US inflation.
"Partly these negatives are in the price since a retaliation from Iran was expected and the higher US inflation was discounted by the market on Friday. Signals from the crude market indicate that the Iran-Israel conflict is unlikely to escalate," he said.
Investors have to be guarded since the element of uncertainty is high during a tense situation like this, he added.
IT stocks will be resilient on the back of better-than-expected numbers from TCS and a promising outlook for FY 25. Banking stocks will exhibit strength since the results will be good and valuations are fair, he said.
Devarsh Vakil - Deputy Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said the Israel-Iran conflict, domestic and global economic macroeconomic data, crude oil prices, January-March quarter results for FY24, general elections 2024, and global cues are likely to keep investors on their toes and will guide market direction this week.
(With inputs from IANS)
