Today there was a decline in the Indian stock markets amidst huge fluctuations. By the end of the trading session, the Sensex had fallen nearly 516 points, while the Nifty slipped below the 24,200 level. The main reason for this weakness in the market was heavy selling in banking stocks after the announcement of SBI’s quarterly results. In addition, rising tensions between the US and Iran also increased investors’ concerns. At the end of trading, the Sensex closed 516 points lower at 77,328, while the Nifty fell 150 points at 24,176.
After the announcement of State Bank of India (SBI) quarterly results, investors indulged in heavy profit-booking. Its impact was clearly visible on the stock market, where SBI shares fell by almost 6 percent. As a result, this increased pressure on the entire banking sector. On Nifty, apart from SBI, shares of Coal India, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank were also seen trading at lower levels. On the contrary, buying interest from investors was seen in stocks like Asian Paints, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Consumer, Adani Ports and Titan.
Which sectors showed the most weakness?
The biggest decline was seen in the PSU Bank index in the market today, which fell by about 3 percent. Apart from this, the Oil & Gas index declined by 1 per cent, while weakness was also visible in Private Bank, Metal, Energy, Power and Realty sectors. However, IT, FMCG, healthcare and consumer durables sectors tried to provide some degree of stability to the market.
Impact of America-Iran tension
According to experts, the increasing tension between America and Iran and increasing military activities near the Strait of Hormuz have created an atmosphere of fear in the global markets. As a result, investors decided to stay away from risky investments, which increased selling pressure in the market. However, one saving grace was that crude oil prices remained stable around the $100 per barrel level, which did not cause any major increase in panic in the market.
Midcap and smallcap stocks got support: Despite the decline in the broader market, no significant weakness was seen in midcap and smallcap stocks. The Nifty Midcap index closed with a slight decline, while the Smallcap index closed with a slight gain. Experts attributed this to strong corporate earnings and attractive valuations, and said investors remained interested in select midcap and smallcap stocks.