The Sensex and Nifty continued to plunge on Monday and ended in red. The BSE Sensex settled the session at 81,748.57, declining almost 400 points, while the NSE Nifty50 closed trading at 24,688.25,slipping 100 points.
This plunge was backed by a cautious sentiment among investors ahead of the US Fed’s rate decision amid weak global cues. Further, a selling pressure in metal and IT counters amid a weak rupee and slowing Chinese economic data impacted investors’ sentiment, traders noted.
On Monday, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, and M&M emerged as gainers,while Titan, Adani Ports, TCS, UltraTech Cement, and NTPC stood among the laggards.
In broader markets, the Nifty Microcap 250 index stood in green and climbed 0.77 per cent. On the other hand, the Nifty100 index slipped 0.28 per cent.
Sector-wise, the Nifty Realty index drove the gains and ended trading over 3 per cent higher. Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said, “Domestic equities took cues from Asian and European indices and ended negative, as investors await the outcome of the US FOMC meeting on rate decision later this week.Although a rate cut is on the cards, there is a lack of confidence amongst the investors due to the sluggish Chinese economy and concerns ahead of Trump's decision on import tariffs on key economies.”
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower. European markets also stayed in red, while Wall Street ended mostly lower on Friday. The wholesale price-based inflation eased to a three-month low of 1.89 per cent in November, official data revealed on Monday. India's merchandise exports in November also slipped by 4.85 per cent to $32.11 billion, in comparison to $33.75 billion clocked in the year-ago period.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,335.32 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. The global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.75 per cent to touch $73.91 a barrel.