Sensex, Nifty Fall For Fifth Straight Day As Global Worries Weigh: Market Wrap

India's benchmark stock indices declined for the fifth day on Wednesday, after the Dussehra holiday, as uncertainty stemming from the Israel-Hamas conflict continues to weigh on markets.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed down 523 points, or 0.81%, at 64,049.06, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 160 points, or 0.83%, lower at 19,122.15.

Sensex closed over 700 points below the day's high, whereas Nifty 50 slipped over 200 points. Nifty Bank corrected over 500 points from the session's peak.

Metals advanced, while media, IT, realty and healthcare shares were under pressure. Intraday, Nifty hit 19,074.15, the lowest level since June 30, whereas Sensex fell to 63,912.16, lowest since June 28. Both indices ended the trading day at the lowest level since June 28.

"To make a comeback, Nifty and Nifty Bank must cross 19,350 and 43,430, respectively, to hold a reversal for tomorrow's session," said Avdhut Bagkar, derivatives and technical analyst at StoxBox.

The NSE Nifty 50 index has fallen 3.48% in the last five sessions, whereas S&P BSE Sensex dropped 3.58%.

About Rs 2.08 lakh crore of investor wealth was lost in a single day of trading on Wednesday, according to the data from BSE. Over the last five trading sessions, investors lost a sum of Rs 14.5 lakh crore.

"Investors may opt for a cautious approach to the market till some clarity emerges on the geopolitical situation," said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Broader markets mirrored the larger peers as Nifty Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250 ended over 0.5% lower. "Since the valuations in mid and small-cap space is higher than that of large caps, this weakness is likely to persist. Safety is now in large caps, particularly in banking majors which are fairly valued," said Vijayakumar.

Other Asian benchmarks rose after China stepped up support for its economy. The Hang Seng Tech index gained 2.2%.

U.S. equity-index futures dropped after Microsoft Corp. and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. delivered a mixed picture of big tech earnings. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 sank 0.6% and those on the S&P 500 were down 0.4%. Alphabet fell more than 7% in pre-market trading.

The 10-year treasury yield rose four basis points and the dollar index was steady.

Here's how Indian benchmark indices fared on Wednesday:

Infosys Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Larsen and Toubro Ltd., and Bharti Airtel Ltd. contributed to the decline of the Nifty 50 index.

State Bank of India, Tata Steel Ltd., Coal India Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd. and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. contributed positively.

The broader market indices mirrored larger peers. The S&P BSE MidCap index was down 0.52%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap index was 0.77% lower.

Nineteen the 20 sectors compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, while S&P BSE Metal advanced. S&P BSE Metal, S&P BSE Telecommunication and S&P BSE Utilities fell the most.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 1,235 stocks rose, 2,453 declined, while 107 remained unchanged on the BSE.

As market sell-off intensifies, analysts see an upside if the Nifty crosses the 19,500 level in Thursday's session.

Technically, the next major support zone lies near 18,850 levels and 18,600 zone of the significant 200-day moving average where one can expect for some consolidation, said Vaishali Parekh, vice president-technical research, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt.

"So, as of now, it’s a wait-and-watch scenario and for the overall bias to improve, would need a decisive move past the 19,500 zone to establish some conviction and anticipate for further rise," Parekh said.