Intense selling pressure on Dalal Street on Monday caused major indexes to plummet as worries about third-quarter profits and the recent HMP virus worry grew.
With more losses, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex fell 1,258.12 points, or 1.59 percent, to settle at 77,964.99. This was below the 78,000 barrier. It fell 1.81 percent, or 1,441.49 points, to 77,781.62 during the day.
On May 23, the NSE Nifty fell 388.70 points, or 1.62 percent. At 23,551.90, it skidded 452.85 points, or 1.88 percent, during the day. The market capitalization fell by the most in a single day in three months, surpassing Rs 9.5 lakh crore.
The Nifty Midcap 100 dropped 1,743.25 points, ending the day at 56,187.80, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 645.15 points to an intraday low of 18,388.55.
The Nifty Metal index led the losses, falling 3.32 percent, while the Nifty Realty index followed closely behind, down 3.29 percent. Sectoral indices displayed widespread weakness. The banking industry was not exempt either, as pressure from heavyweights caused the Nifty Bank index to drop 1,200 points or 2.24 percent.
A barometer of market volatility known as the “fear gauge,” the India VIX, surged more than 16 percent, indicating that investors were more anxious than usual. Significant pressure was also placed on broader indices, which saw losses ranging from 2.7 to 3.1 percent.
Among the largest laggards were Tata Steel, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Zomato, Adani Ports, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Reliance Industries. The sole winners were Sun Pharma and Titan. On Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold stocks valued at Rs 4,227.25 crore.
