Stock Market Today: Sensex Falls 354 Points; Nifty Ends Below 21,800 Amid Volatility. Tata Motors Up 5%

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors was the lead gainer, up 5.46 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, M&M, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, and NTPC

Closing Bell: The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, settled sharply lower amid volatility, tracking weak global cues, on Monday. The S&P BSE Sensex settled 354 points lower to 71,731. The Sensex hit a high of 72,386 and a low of 71,602 during intra-day trade. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 21,772, down 82 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors was the lead gainer, up 5.46 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, M&M, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, and NTPC. On the down side, Bajaj twins, Airtel, Maruti, HCLTech, UltraCemco emerged losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap settled 0.02 per cent higher, while the BSE Smallcap dipped 0.23 per cent.

Sectorally, bank, capital goods, information technology, and FMCG stocks were down 0.3 per cent to 0.9 per cent. Auto, pharma, metal, oil & gas, and realty gained 1 per cent each.

In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex ended 440 points higher at 72,086, while the NSE Nifty50 closed at 21,854, up 156 points.

"Indications are in favour of consolidation to continue and expect Nifty to respect the 21,450-21,600 zone, in case the profit taking extends," Ajit Mishra, SVP, technical research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

In Asian markets, Tokyo settled in the green, while Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended lower. European markets were quoting marginally lower. The US markets ended in positive territory on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.53 per cent to $76.92 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 70.69 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 8 paise to settle at 83.06 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, as strengthening American currency overseas and negative sentiment in the domestic equity markets weighed on the local unit. However, the downward trend in the global crude oil prices supported the domestic unit and restricted its decline, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.03 against the dollar and traded in the narrow range of 83.00 to 83.07. The local unit finally settled at 83.06 (provisional) against the greenback, down 8 paise over its previous close. The rupee settled flat at 82.98 against the dollar on Friday.