Bears growl! Sensex tumbles 440 points; Nifty ends below 19,700 on F&O expiry

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

US Fed. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 440 points or 0.66% to settle at 66,267. The broader NSE Nifty dropped 0.60% to end below the 19,700 level.

In the Sensex pack, M&M was the top laggard, falling over 6%, as the company disclosed plans to expand its footprint in the banking sector by picking a stake in private sector lender RBL Bank. Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, JSW Steel, Kotak Bank and ITC also ended in the red. On the flip side, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, L&T, Infosys, TCS, NTPC, and Tata Steel closed higher.

Shares of Cipla ended 9.6% higher after the firm reported a 45% year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated net profit for the June 2023 quarter to Rs 996 crore. RVNL shares closed 6% lower after the government launched an offer for sale (OFS) to pare its stake in the company by up to 5.36%. On the sectoral front, Nifty Auto declined 1.21%, and Nifty Bank fell 0.83%.

Financial, FMCG, IT, and metal sectors also closed lower. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 gained 0.27%, while Smallcap100 ended flat. The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the bears.

About 1,793 stocks declined, 1,770 gained, and 140 remained unchanged on the BSE. The market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE declined by Rs 33,357 crore to Rs 303.6 lakh crore.Experts View «The FOMC's decision aligned with market expectations as they implemented a 25bps hike and expressed a data-centric approach for future rate actions. Positive global sentiment prevailed due to the reduced prospects of a US recession,» Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.