Sensex and Nifty, India’s most prominent indices, traded lower by sales in IT, auto and FMCG stock amidst mixed global signals.
Al close of the market, Sensex was down by 530.95 points or 1.09% at 48,347.59, and Nifty was down 133.00 points or 0.93% at 14,238.90. In shares, around 915 have advanced, 2009 have declined and 152 are unchanged.
Selling in prominent index holders such as Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, among other heavyweights brought Nifty below the 14,250 level.
Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors and Eicher Motors were amongst those who experienced major losses on Nifty, in contrast to Grasim Industries, UPL, Cipla, Hero Motocorp and Axis Bank who were gainers.
Broader markets also gave in to selling pressure with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap100 ending 0.94% and 1.18% lower, respectively.
In sectoral indices, Nifty IT, Nifty Realty, Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty FMCG witnessed the highest decline. On the other hand, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Metal saw an increase.
The Indian rupee traded at 72.90 per dollar during a sell-off in domestic equities. The unit began with a flat rate of 72.95 per dollar in comparison to Friday’s close of 72.97.
Stove Kraft, manufacturer of cooking appliances issued an initial public offer for Rs 412.62 crore and was 49% on the first day of bidding. The issue received bids for 28.54 lake equity shares against an offer size of 58.94 lakh shares.
On 25th January, as of 1 PM, the reserved portion of retail investors was subscribed 2.6 times while non-institutional investors were subscribed 1.26%.
In the global markets, Asian shares surged to near an all-time high as anxieties about COVID-19 cases and delay in vaccine supplies were clouded by the hope of a $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus to aid the revival of the US economy.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan increased to 726.46. Japan’s Nikkei made a comeback from falls in early trading to be up by 0.7%.
Australian shares added 0.4% after approval of the Pfizer / BioNTech coronavirus vaccine with a phased rollout expected to be held late next month.
Chinese shares jumped, with the blue-chip CSI300 index up 1.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose nearly by 2% led by technology stocks.
In Europe, stocks rose as gains in technology shares and upbeat earnings apparently have reported to help investors look past the possibility of extended lockdowns. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.4%.