Sensex plunges 396 points, Nifty ends below 18,000; auto stocks rally

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Indian benchmark equity indices settled lower on Tuesday amid volatility as market participants were worried about inflationary pressures pushing companies to raise prices and their consequent impact on demand. Sensex settled at 60,322.37, down 396.34 points or 0.65%, while Nifty ended 110.25 or 0.61% lower at 17,999.20.

“The domestic market started trading between gains and losses before slipping into deep red with heavy selling in banking and pharma stocks. RBI’s statement that equity market valuations is stretched added to the pressure, however Mid & Smallcaps outperformed. Global markets remained mixed as the Biden-Xi meeting ended with both the parties appealing for more cooperation. European and US markets are trading almost flat ahead of the release of Eurozone Q3 GDP and US retail sales data,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Sectoral strand

The Nifty Auto index rose 2.30% to 11,956.45. The index had declined 0.16% to end at 11,687.65 yesterday.

Maruti Suzuki (up 7.29%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.91%), Bharat Forge (up 2.82%), Tata Motors (up 2.46%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.92%), Eicher Motors (up 0.99%) TVS Motor Company (up 0.52%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.22%) advanced while Ashok Leyland (down 3.94%) declined.

That apart Nifty IT index advanced 0.49%.

On the downside, the Nifty PSU bank index tanked 2.14% while Nifty Pharma & Nifty Bank indices slipped over a per cent. Whereas Nifty FMCG and Nifty Metal indices were down 0.67% each. Nifty Realty index ended the session with mild losses of 0.14%.

Broader market

The broader markets were better off when compared to benchmark indices as the BSE MidCap index declined 59 points or 0.22% to 26,416. While the BSE SmallCap index settled at 29,228 higher by 52 points or 0.18%.

The market breadth also turned negative as 1,729 shares declined versus 1,602 advancing and 143 remained unchanged.

Primary market

The initial public offer (IPO) of Tarsons Products received bids for over 3.12 crore shares as against 1.08 crore shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:27 IST on Tuesday (16 November 2021). The issue was subscribed 2.89 times.

The issue opened for bidding on 15 November 2021 and it will close on 17 November 2021. The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 635-662.

Global markets

European shares mostly advanced while most Asian indices ended in the green on Tuesday.

US equities ended flat on Monday, as U.S. Treasury yields reversed and climbed higher, and investors awaited quarterly reports from big retailers later in the week.