Stock market today: Nifty 50, Sensex fall about 1% each; smallcaps bleed; investors lose nearly ₹3 lakh crore in a day

Stock market today: Amid cautious anticipation of key macroeconomic data and influenced by weak global signals, the domestic equity market experienced a widespread selloff on Monday, March 11 with benchmarks-  the Nifty 50 and the Sensex - closing the day with losses approaching one per cent.

Market sentiment remains cautious leading up to the release of inflation data in both the US and India on Tuesday, as it may impact the monetary policy decisions of both the Fed and the RBI.

According to Reuters, "Tuesday's US consumer price index (CPI) report for February is forecast to rise 0.4 per cent for the month and keep the annual pace steady at 3.1 per cent. Core inflation is seen rising 0.3 per cent, which will nudge the annual pace down to the lowest since early 2021 at 3.7 per cent."

Market participants hope that with unemployment reaching a two-year high of 3.9 per cent, a slower-than-expected increase in core inflation might prompt the US Fed to consider rate cuts in the upcoming months.

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Meanwhile, for India, analysts are Barclays forecast February CPI inflation rose slightly to 5.3 per cent, with a modest sequential rise in food and core prices.

"Price pressures largely remain in check, and food prices are coming off gradually. This should keep the RBI on the sidelines for longer, with no urgency to cut rates given robust growth," Barclays' analysts said.

Most analysts are of the view that the RBI will not cut rates before the US Fed embarks on a rate reduction journey. 

Nifty 50 closed with a loss of 161 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 22,332.65 while the Sensex fell 617 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at 73,502.64.

As many as 22 stocks ended in the red in the 30-share pack Sensex, with shares of Power Grid, Tata Steel and SBI as the top losers. 

The smallcap segment suffered deep losses as the BSE Smallcap index lost 2.01 per cent. The BSE Midcap index settled with a loss of 0.24 per cent.

Also Read: Stocks to buy: ITC, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel among 10 stocks analysts believe may rise 9-13% in next 3-4 weeks

The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE dropped to nearly ₹389.7 lakh crore from nearly ₹392.8 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors poorer by about ₹3.1 lakh crore in a single session.

Over 100 stocks, including Alkyl Amines Chemicals, Campus Activewear, GMM Pfaudler, IIFL Finance, KRBL and Sterlite Technologies, hit their 52-week lows in intraday trade on BSE.

Top Nifty 50 gainers today

Shares of Apollo Hospitals (up 2.66 per cent), Nestle India (up 1.92 per cent) and SBI Life Insurance Company (up 1.56 per cent) closed as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index.

Top Nifty 50 losers today

As many as 33 stocks ended in the red in the Nifty 50 index with shares of Tata Consumer Products (down 3.06 per cent), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 2.67 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (down 2.53 per cent) as the top losers.

Also Read: Top Gainers and Losers today on 11 March, 2024: Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Nestle India, Tata Consumer, Bajaj Auto among most active stocks; Check full list here

Sectoral indices today

The domestic market witnessed widespread selloff today as barring Nifty Healthcare (up 0.44 per cent) and Pharma (up 0.04 per cent), all sectoral indices ended with losses.

Nifty Bank and Private Bank indices fell 1.06 per cent each while the Nifty PSU Bank index underperformed with a loss of 1.58 per cent.

With a loss of 2.91 per cent, Nifty Media ended as the top loser among the sectoral indices.

Nifty Metal (down 1.44 per cent), Realty (down 1.09 per cent) and Oil & Gas (down 1.06 per cent) also lost significantly.

Also Read: Rally in PSU stocks flawed, book profit, says Kotak

Expert's views on markets

"Continued selloff in global markets due to uncertainty over rate cuts impacted the domestic market sentiment, which is currently at an overbought level. The stronger-than-expected US nonfarm payroll data and caution ahead of the release of US inflation data tomorrow kept investors on edge. The broader market continued its underperformance due to valuation concerns, while investors are rebalancing their portfolios to include safe-haven assets like gold," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Technical views on Nifty 50

According to Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, the overall trend continues to be bullish, even though an intermediate corrective phase is in progress.

De said in the short term, Nifty 50 could experience weakness, possibly leading to a decline toward the range of 22,200-22,250. Immediate resistance is identified at 22,400 based on closing prices.

Jatin Gedia, a technical research analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, pointed out that the daily Bollinger bands are contracting, indicating a range contraction and it is likely to result in a rangebound price action going ahead.

"The expectation of trending moves on the upside is fading away in the absence of strength from the key heavyweights of the index. In terms of levels, 22,224 – 22,167 is the crucial support zone while 22,530 – 22,600 is the immediate hurdle zone from a short-term perspective," said Gedia.

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