Stock Market Today: Nifty, Sensex Log Worst Fall In Over Three Months As HDFC Bank, L&T Fall

• The local currency closed flat at 83.51 against the US dollar.

• It closed at 83.51 on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

India benchmark indices recorded their worst fall since January, tracking declines in shares of heavyweight HDFC Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., and Reliance Industry Ltd.

The NSE Nifty 50 ended 345.00 points or 1.55% lower at 21,957.50, and the S&P BSE Sensex settled 1,062.22 points or 1.45% lower at 72,404.17.

The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 1.66% to 21,932.40, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.54% to 72,334.74 during the day.

The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 also slipped below 22,000 level for the first time in 14 sessions.

"On daily charts, the index has formed long bearish candle, which supports further weakness from the current levels. We are of the view that, the short-term market texture is weak but due to temporary oversold conditions, we could see a one technical pullback rally from the current levels. For the traders now, 22,000/72,550 would act as key level to watch out. Above 22,000/72,550, the market could bounce back till 22,100-22,150/72,300-72,500. On the flip side, below 22,000/72,550 the weak sentiment is likely to continue. Below which the market could slip till 21,850-21,800/72,100-72,000," said Shrikant Chouhan, head equity research, Kotak Securities.

"Pessimism persisted in the Indian bourses and bears tightened their grip in today's trading session by breaching all the key support levels to end the session at 21,957.50 with a loss of 345 points. Barring Auto, all other sectors ended the day in red with Energy and Metal being the major laggards. Relentless selling continued in the Mid and Smallcap stocks which resulted in the underperformance of the broader markets. On a technical front, the Index has formed a big bearish candle which indicates dominance of the Bears. Now, the immediate support is placed at 21,830 which is the lower end of an Ascending Triangle Formation while on the higher side, 22,230 will be a crucial hurdle," said Aditya Gaggar, Director, Progressive Shares.

HDFC Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., ITC Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd. dragged on the benchmark index.

Infosys Ltd., State Bank of India, Tata Motors Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., and Hero MotoCorp Ltd. limited the fall in the index.

On NSE, 11 sectors out of the 12 ended lower, and one sector ended higher. The NSE Nifty Oil & Gas was the worst performing sector, and the NSE Nifty Auto was the best performing sector.

The broader markets underperformed; the S&P BSE MidCap Index closed down 2.01%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was 2.41% lower.

Nineteen out of 20 sectors compiled by BSE declined. Only S&P BSE Auto ended higher.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 2,902 stocks fell, 929 rose, while 112 remained unchanged on the BSE.

• Revenue fell 5.47% to Rs 2,093.53 crore from Rs 2,214.48 crore

• Ebitda rose 11.75% to Rs 260.56 crore from Rs 233.16 crore

• Margin rose 191 basis points to 12.44% from 10.52%

• Net profit rose 16.36% to Rs 251.89 crore from Rs 216.46 crore

• Revenue rose19.72% to Rs 787.66 crore from Rs 657.91 crore

• Ebitda fell 33.18% to Rs 30.73 crore from Rs 45.99 crore

• Margin fell 308 basis points to 3.9% from 6.99%

• Net profit fell 47.96% Rs 12.8 crore from Rs 24.6 crore