Sensex, Nifty slide over 1 pc amid weak global cues, US trade uncertainties

Mumbai, Jan 27 (IANS) Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp decline on Monday amid weak global cues and uncertainties over US trade policies which dampened domestic investors’ sentiment.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex shed 824 points or 1.08 per cent at 75,366, while the NSE Nifty50 slipped 263 points or 1.14 per cent at 22,829.

On the 30-stock Sensex, only six stocks managed to stay in the green. ICICI Bank led the gainers with a 1.75 per cent rise, followed by the SBI, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, and Maruti Suzuki India.

However, the majority of stocks faced losses like Zomato, Tech Mahindra, HCLTech and Tata Motors.

Similarly, on the Nifty50, 10 stocks traded higher. Britannia Industries emerged as the top gainer, rising 1.93 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro and Nestle India.

On the losing side, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) dropped 2.68 per cent, followed by HCLTech, JSW Steel and Trent.

Sectoral performance was largely negative. The Media index led the losses, falling 3.83 per cent, followed by the Pharma index, which declined 2.35 per cent, and the IT index, which shed 2.19 per cent.

The only exception was the PSU Bank index, which ended the day by showing a marginal gain of 0.12 per cent.

Broader markets experienced even sharper losses. The Nifty Midcap 100 fell 2.25 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 tumbled 3.51 per cent.

According to Rupak De of LKP Securities, the index slipped from its recent consolidation on the daily chart, heightening pessimism across the Indian equity market.

“Sentiment is likely to favour bearish trades in the short term, particularly as long as the index remains below 23,000. On the lower side, the prevailing weakness could potentially lead to a decline toward 22,500,” he mentioned.

Meanwhile, Asian markets saw mixed reactions. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index rose 2 per cent, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures dropped 0.6 per cent.

India's volatility index, the India VIX, climbed 7.36 per cent to 17.98.

Gold experienced volatile trading as the first session of the week saw profit booking, with Comex gold encountering resistance near $2,770 but maintaining strong support around $2,750, showcasing resilience to break below that level.