Indian Stock Market Tanks 1% Over Fag-End Selling

The Indian stock market continued its downward trend on Friday, with the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks declining by over 1%. The selling pressure was mainly due to tensions in West Asia, rising crude oil prices, and foreign investor outflows. The BSE Sensex dropped 1097 points, or 1.37%, to settle at 78,918.90, while the Nifty slipped 315.45 points, or 1.27%, to close at 24,450.45. Investors’ wealth took a massive hit of Rs 13.46 lakh crore in just four days as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms slumped to Rs 449.79 lakh crore from Rs 463.25 lakh crore on February 27’s close. The top losers among Sensex constituents included ICICI Bank, Eternal, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, and State Bank of India. The banking sector was particularly hard hit, with the BSE Bankex index declining by 2.14%. The auto sector also saw a decline of 1.10%, with several stocks hitting their 52-week lows. Market breadth turned negative on the BSE, with more stocks declining than rising. According to analysts, the market is expected to remain cautious in the short term, with the 24,600 level acting as the first resistance zone and 24,700 being the next level of supply. A break below the recent swing low of 24,300 could quickly drag the index down to the 24,000 level. However, some sectors such as pharmaceuticals, metals, PSE, and defence continue to provide buying opportunities on a rotational basis. Experts recommend staying selective while focusing on strict risk management until the market stabilises.