Sensex, Nifty Drop Over 1% Amid Global Sell-Off

Mumbai: Sensex and Nifty-50 fell more than one per cent from all time highs registered just a day before on negative global cues and replicating a global sell off on Thursday & Friday.

US market benchmarks Nasdaq(-2.30 per cent), S&P 500(-1.56 per cent) and Dow Jones(-1.21 per cent) fell overnight on poor earnings reported by technology companies and signs of recession in US economy, which triggered a sharp sell off in Asian markets. Japan's main index Nikkei 225 fell 5.81 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng(-2.08 per cent) and China's Shanghai Composite(-0.92 per cent) were also down as were the European market benchmarks.

The Sensex fell 885.60 points or 1.08 per cent while Nifty-50 fell 1.17 per cent or 293.20 points, the broader market.also fell with BSE Mid-cap index down by 1.19 per cent and BSE Small-cap index down by 0.58 per cent.

Analysts see more signs of US recession coming and ongoing conflict in the Middle East as negative for equities market.

"As recession fears re-emerge after weak manufacturing data from the US. The recent upsurge had made Indian stocks very expensive and hence correction was due for some time. Despite the slump, our resilient economy and strong fundamentals along with healthy corporate earnings would keep the downside limited," said Prashanth Tapse, senior VP -Research, Mehta Equities.

All sectoral indices closed in the red, IT, Auto, Metals, Capital Goods and Realty sectors were top losers while FMCG and Healthcare fell less than the benchmarks Sensex and Nifty-50.

Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of equities worth Rs 3,310 crore while the domestic institutions were net buyers by Rs.2,965.94 crore.

Market investors suffered notional loss of over Rs 4.46 lakh crore as BSE's market capitalisation came down to over Rs 457.16 lakh crore from over Rs 461.62 lakh crore a day before.

"With global markets leaning towards a risk-off scenario, as evidenced by sharp sell-offs in the Nasdaq and Nikkei this week, it’s crucial for earnings to accelerate. If earnings growth doesn’t pick up, the market may face a risk of near-term consolidation. On a sectoral level,the pharma industry stands out, with CNX Pharma reaching an all-time high and closing up 1.6 per cent this week," said Krishna Appala, research analyst, Capitalmind Research..