Indian Markets Slide Again: Sensex, Nifty Decline; Mid, Small Caps Hit Hard

The Indian equity markets were not able to shake off their negative trend for the third day in a row on Wednesday, December 17. The main reason behind this was again the weak rupee which was under the pressure of foreign fund withdrawals, the uncertainty regarding the India-US trade deal which is already delayed and in general a bad mood of the investors.

The index of the biggest stocks Sensex lost 120 points, or 0.14%, ending up at 84,559.65 while Nifty 50 went down by 42 points or 0.16% settling at 25,818.55. The widespread selling was even stronger in the broader markets with the BSE Midcap index losing 0.53% and the Smallcap index shrinking 0.85%.

The selling across the board meant that the investors lost a lot of money and the total market capitalisation of companies listed on BSE fell to ₹466 lakh crore, which was less than ₹467.64 lakh crore in the previous day—almost the same amount of ₹1.6 lakh crore lost in just one day.

Indian Stock Market Today: 10 Key Highlights

1. What were the reasons for the third straight session of market decline?

Apart from the dollar's strength, the domestic equity markets were impacted negatively by the continuous selling by foreign institutional investors (FII) and constant indecision over an India-US trade deal.

By the time the December earnings season would reveal a strong recovery, or the trade issue became clearer, market participants would still be experiencing volatility because of the lack of new positive triggers.

The markets are reflecting "Investor caution" as "foreign investors are withdrawing money, and emerging markets are under pressure while developed markets are strong," commented Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.

He also mentioned that "the market keeps moving to the downside" due to global uncertainty along with continuous foreign selling despite the fact that occasional currency stability exists.

2. Nifty 50's best performers

The Nifty 50 had a total of 24 stocks that still managed to finish the day to make a profit even though the market was weak overall.

The main stocks in this gain were:

• Shriram Finance (+2.07%)
• State Bank of India (+1.58%)
• Hindalco Industries (+1.30%)

3. Nifty 50's biggest losers

On the opposite end, 26 stocks went down in price and the most important among them were:

• Max Healthcare Institute (-3.71%)
• Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (-1.98%)
• Trent (-1.66%)

4. Performance of Sectors

Sectoral movements were varied during the day's trading. The PSU Bank index gained 1.29%, outperforming the market. Slightly higher ended IT, Metals, and Oil and Gas indices as well.

On the other hand, the following sectors faced selling pressure:

• Media (-1.71%)
• Consumer durables (-0.96%)
• Realty (-0.84%)
• FMCG (-0.47%)

Nifty Bank fell 0.18% while the Financial Services index dipped 0.49%.

5. Stocks with the highest volume that were most active

The three most active stocks in terms of trading volume on the NSE were:

• Vodafone Idea (62.7 crore shares)
• Meesho (18.1 crore shares)
• Ola Electric Mobility (14.9 crore shares)

6. 12 stocks soar by more than 15% in spite of poor market conditions

It was quite a surprise that in the midst of the bearish market trend, 12 companies listed on BSE, over 15% in their share prices. The stellar performers were Meesho, TCI Finance, Shish Industries, Transwarranty Finance, and Apex Frozen Foods.

7. Advance–decline ratio

The market was overall bearish in trading and the decline was overwhelming. Of all the 4,328 stocks that were traded at BSE:

• 1,475 increased
• 2,694 decreased
• 159 were stable

8. More than 90 stocks reached 52-week highs

Although the market looked weak overall, there were still 94 names reaching their 52-week highs during the intraday sessions. Among the major players were Vedanta, Shriram Finance, and Hindustan Zinc.

9. Close to 200 stocks at 52-week lows

On the contrary, 196 firms recorded their 52-week lowest prices, which included ACC, REC, PFC, Colgate Palmolive (India), Mankind Pharma, United Breweries (UBL), and Page Industries.

10. Nifty technical outlook

As per Sudeep Shah, who is the Head of Technical & Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, Nifty 50 has a crucial support at the 25,700-25,650 range.

“If the index pierces through 25,650, additional correction to 25,500 is probable,” said Shah. “On the upside, 25,950 to 26,000 continues to be a very strong resistance area. A lasting move over 26,000 may unleash a pullback rally up to 26,200.”

In the same manner, Shrikant Chouhan, the Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, expressed a watchful opinion by saying that the day’s trade sentiment is still weak but a fresh sell-off would happen only if the index closes below 25,775. In such a case, the Nifty would probably drop to the range of 25,700–25,650, whereas a breakout over 25,920 may make the market more positive and lead to a gradual rise towards the levels of 26,000–26,050.