Bears stay put on Dalal Street for 3rd day, wipe off Rs 11 lakh crore m-cap

NEW DELHI: There was no relief for Dalal Street investors as domestic benchmark indices ended with cuts for a third consecutive session on Tuesday.

Though the market attempted to rebound from its recent broad sell-off, weakness in metal and realty counters dragged the indices lower towards the end of the session.

Amid choppy trade, both Nifty and Sensex swung between gains and losses to finally settled in the red, with the 30-share pack falling 106 points to 54,365. NSE barometer Nifty, meanwhile, settled below the 16,250 mark.

Market sentiment remains fragile amid concerns over inflation, economic growth and mixed-bag Q4 earnings.

The three-day market mayhem wiped out Rs 11.4 lakh crore from investors' wealth as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies fell to Rs 248.3 lakh crore.

"A weakening rupee despite forex swaps by the central bank failed to lift IT stocks. FMCG stocks saw investor interest as bulls attempted to halt the famous adage - Sell in May & Go Away. The index, in no way, represented the damage done today in the broader markets, with the advance-decline ratio describing the weak undertone," said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

Among bluechip names, Coal India, Tata Steel, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Hindalco, Titan, NTPC and JSW Steel were among the top losers, while HUL, Eicher Motors, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Maruti and IndusInd Bank ended in the black.

Tata Steel shares plunged 7 per cent, weighing heavily on the metal pack that tanked over 5 per cent, the most since September 2021. Metal stocks are losing its shine as the sector’s outlook is turning negative due to persisting margin pressures, said Vinod Nair, Geojit Financial Services.

The broader indices underperformed their larger peers, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices falling 1.87-2.24 per cent. Intellect Design Arena, NALCO, JSPL, Vedanta, Coforge, and NMDC were top midcap losers. The midcap index has lost 5 per cent in the last 3 sessions against a 3 per cent decline in benchmark index.

Ten out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by NSE-- settled in the red. Nifty Metal, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas underperformed the index by falling as much as 5.20 per cent, 2.24 per cent and 2.29 per cent.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bears. About 879 stocks advanced, 2,476 declined and 132 remained unchanged.