Sensex Declines 241 Points, Nifty Drops Below 20,150; Why Markets Fell Today?

The BSE Sensex on Monday, September 18, declined 241.79 points to close at 67,596.84, and the NSE Nifty dropped by 59.05 point to 20,133.30. The domestic equity market opened on a jittery note, then recovered till 12 pm, and then started dropping to finally end the day in the red below the opening level.

Among the 30-share Sensex, 16 shares closed in green while 14 shares ended the day in the red. Among the top gainers were PowerGrid, Titan, M&M, NTPC and Bajaj Finserv rising up to 3 per cent. However, among top losers were HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, UltraTech, and Tata Steel declining up to 1.98 per cent.

Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services, said, “Domestic markets relinquished their momentum as they anticipated a raft of policy rate decisions due this week. The investor’s confidence was also impacted by the expectations of a demand resurgence in China, combined with crude supply cuts. With the Fed rate hike fears back on the cards, as reflected in the elevated US bond yields, the markets await clarification from major central banks.”

On the technical movement, Kunal Shah, senior technical & derivative analyst at LKP Securities, said, “The Bank Nifty index experienced profit booking at higher levels and struggled to surpass the 46300 mark. The PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) bank sector emerged as a clear outperformer in the index. This outperformance is expected to continue in the near term, potentially driven by positive sentiment or specific factors affecting PSU banks. The Bank Nifty has an immediate support zone in the range of 45800 to 45700. This level is crucial, and a breach below it could trigger further selling pressure in the index.”

He added that despite the profit booking, the overall sentiment for the Bank Nifty remains bullish, as long as the mentioned support levels are held on a closing basis. This suggests that there is still confidence in the upward trajectory of the index.