The beginning of the week was not good for the stock market. After fluctuations throughout the day on Monday, the market closed with a decline. During trading, the Sensex fell nearly 500 points from its day’s high, while the Nifty closed below the crucial 24,000 level. Investor confidence remained weak due to selling pressure in auto, banking and IT stocks.
At the end of trading, BSE Sensex fell 372.10 points (0.48%) to close at 76,728.37. At the same time, NSE Nifty fell 109.75 points (0.46%) and closed at 23,946.25. The decline in the market can be gauged from the fact that about 2,472 shares declined, while only 1,681 shares closed with gains.
**Pressure on auto and banking stocks**
The auto sector was under maximum pressure on Monday. The Nifty Auto index fell nearly 2% on weak demand and profit-booking concerns. Major stocks like Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Eicher Motors saw a fall of 1% to 2%. Apart from this, there was selling in many banking stocks including Kotak Mahindra Bank. IT sector also remained weak; Shares of big companies like TCS and Infosys fell by about 1%. At the same time, the huge fall of about 10% in the shares of Persistent Systems further increased the pressure on the IT sector.
**Pharma and healthcare sector took the lead**
While auto and IT stocks declined, pharma and healthcare sectors performed well. Shares of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories gained more than 4%. Shares like Cipla, Sun Pharma, Max Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Torrent Pharma and Glenmark Pharma also saw good gains. This is the reason why Nifty Pharma and Healthcare indices closed with gains.
What was the reason for the market decline?
According to experts, investors were profit-booking after the rally of the last two days. Selling in auto and IT stocks put the most pressure on the market. At the same time, investors also exercised caution regarding the high valuations of some companies and uncertainties related to business.