Mumbai, 23 June (IANS). The Indian stock market started a weak start of this trading week due to increasing tension in the Middle East. The US bombed Iran’s three nuclear sites. This global developments alerted investors and a decline in benchmark indices on Monday.
The Sensex fell 511.38 points or 0.62 percent to close at 81,896.79. The index continued to trade between high levels of 82,169.67 and low levels of 81,476.76 during Intra-Day.
Similarly, the Nifty also closed on the red mark. The index fell 140.50 points or 0.56 percent to close at 24,971.90. During the session, the index touched an intra-high of 25,057 and a low of 24,824.85.
However, the broader market performed better than the frontline index. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed with a gain of 0.36 percent, while the Smallcap 100 index rose by 0.70 percent.
Among the 30 shares included in the Sensex, HCL Tech, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and ITC top loosers were between 2.29 percent and 1.21 percent.
On the other hand, Trent, Bharat Electronics, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finserv were top gainers, with a gain between 3.61 percent and 0.58 percent.
The sectoral index performed mixed, as the bank closed on the Nifty, Auto, FMCG, and reality red mark, while metal, consumer durables, pharma, and media sectors closed with an edge.
However, the biggest loss was to the Nifty IT index, falling down by 1.48 per cent, as shares such as Coforge and Persistent Systems pulled the sector downwards.
Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments Limited said, “The market rose in the expectation of tension in the Middle East last Friday, as the US had announced a two-week period to discuss its participation in the Israeli-Iran struggle.”
“However, the unexpected US air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities on Sunday broke the expectations, which led to a sharp rise in crude oil prices and consolidated in the domestic equity market,” he said.
The market fear measuring index India Wicks, which reflects volatility, rose 2.74 per cent to 14.05 points.
The Nifty improved after the gap-down opening between weak geopolitical sentiments. The fall in crude oil prices helped the Indian market reduce morning loss, although it still closed on a negative note.
Meanwhile, the rupee was trading at 86.75 with a weakness of 0.11 due to the dollar moving 99 points.
Jatin Trivedi of LKP Securities said, “Technically, the rupee remains weak below 86 and the next support is being seen close to 87.”
-IANS
SKT/