Stock Market Today: Sensex Sheds 353 Points; Nifty Below 22,150. IT, Metals Drag

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Titan, TechM, Airtel, JSW Steel emerged losers. On the flip side, L&T, PowerGrid, HUL, HDFC Bank, Nestle were the only gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday settled in the red amid broad-based profit booking. The S&P BSE Sensex ended 353 points lower at 72,790. On the other hand, the Nifty50 shut shop at 22,122, down 91 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Titan, TechM, Airtel, JSW Steel emerged losers. On the flip side, L&T, PowerGrid, HUL, HDFC Bank, Nestle were the only gainers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index slipped 0.38 per cent while the BSE Smallcap fell 0.06 per cent.

Volatility gauge, India VIX gained 4.2 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty Auto was the only gainer, rising 0.08 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty IT, Metal, Pharma, and Bank indices were the top losers, down up to 1.25 per cent.

In the previous session on Friday, the BSE Sensex closed at 73,143, down 15 points, while the NSE Nifty50 settled at 22,213, down 5 points.

"The market took a breather after the recent run-up as investors' focus shifted from earnings to economic triggers this week. The US and India GDP data, eurozone inflation, and US jobless claim data will be influential economic numbers for the central bank to take a call on interest rates, which will dictate market sentiment in the near term," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

On Monday, Asian markets saw predominantly downward trends. Hong Kong's Hang Seng experienced a 0.5 per cent decline, while the Shanghai Composite and South Korea's Kospi dropped by 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively. However, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 managed to buck the trend, gaining 0.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, European markets also registered losses, with the Euro Stoxx 50 falling by 0.22 per cent. London's FTSE 100 slipped by 0.34 percent, and France's CAC 40 declined by 0.45 per cent.

In futures trade, the benchmark Brent Crude oil decreased by 0.5 per cent to $76.11 per barrel.

On the previous Friday, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) acted as net buyers, acquiring securities worth Rs 1,276.09 crore.

Meanwhile, the rupee gained 2 paise to settle at 82.89 (provisional) against the US dollar in a range-bound trade on Monday, tracking volatility in the equity market. Forex traders said inflow of foreign funds and softer crude oil prices provided support to the Indian currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.88 and finally settled at 82.89 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a gain of 2 paise from its previous close.

During the day, the rupee witnessed a range-bound movement, touching an intra-day high of 82.86 and a low of 82.91 against the American currency. On Friday, the rupee settled 6 paise lower at 82.91 against the US dollar.