Stock Market: Sensex Falls 168 Points, Nifty Settles Below 17,900 Amid Weak Cues. IT Stocks Shine

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Axis Bank, NTPC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, M&M, Reliance ended in the negative zone. Adani Enterprises, Hindalco and JSW Steel were the additional losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday closed in the red on a weak ground pulled down by select heavyweights. 

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 494 points from the day's high after opening with firm gains. The index settled 168 points lower at 60,093 dragged by HDFC twins, Reliance, Axis Bank, ICICI bank, L&T, HUL, Airtel and M&M, down 1-2 per cent. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed 62 points lower at 17,895.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Axis Bank, NTPC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, M&M, Reliance, and others ended in the negative zone. Adani Enterprises, Hindalco and JSW Steel were the additional losers on the index. On the flip side, IT majors Tech M, HCL Tech, Infosys, Wipro and TCS were the top index winners, which gained up to 3 per cent.

Among stocks, Sula Vineyard zoomed 15 per cent after the company posted highest-ever quarterly sales in Q3FY23.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also ended 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent lower, respectively.

Within sectors, IT and PSB indices on the Nifty defied the market and closed over 1 per cent higher. Metal and financial pockets were the worst hit.

In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex recovered 633 points from the day's low and eventually ended 303 points higher at 60,261. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 ended 98 points up at 17,957 level after bouncing back from the day's low at 17,774.

"The sluggish mood continued as markets moved in a narrow range with a negative bias. Investors are taking a cautious stance as the global macroeconomic scenario remains bleak while FIIs continued to be sellers in domestic equities in the current month, thus dampening the market sentiment," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended in the green, while Tokyo settled lower.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mixed in mid-session deals. Markets in the US had ended in the positive territory on Friday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.54 per cent to $84.82 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 2,422.39 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.