Sensex and Nifty Extend Losses Amid Thin Trading, Market Sentiment Slips

The Indian stock market continued to witness a cautious mood on Monday, December 29, as both benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, ended lower for the fourth consecutive session. Thin trading volumes and a lack of strong triggers kept investors on the sidelines, suggesting a consolidation phase might be underway.

Today’s fall reflects the ongoing cautious sentiment in the market, with foreign institutional investors (FIIs) maintaining a net selling stance throughout December, except for a few sessions.

Market Performance

• Sensex Performance: The BSE Sensex fell by 345.91 points, or 0.41%, settling at 84,695.54, marking the fourth straight session of losses.
• Nifty 50 Performance: NSE’s Nifty 50 declined by 100.20 points, or 0.38%, to 25,942.10, extending its losing streak to three days.
• Broader Market: The BSE Midcap index slipped 0.45%, while BSE Smallcap lost 0.50%, indicating broader market weakness.

The downward trend was spread across sectors, with select areas showing resilience while others took the brunt of selling pressure.

Top Movers in the Market

Nifty 50 Gainers

Despite the overall weak sentiment, some stocks managed to close in the green today:

• Tata Steel and Tata Consumer led the rally, each rising over 1.5%.
• Asian Paints, Grasim, and Nestle India were other notable gainers.
• Metals and FMCG stocks dominated the top performers in today’s Nifty 50 pack.

Nifty 50 Losers

On the flip side, losses were sharper in certain names:

• Adani Ports was the top loser, down 2.27%.
• HCL Tech, Power Grid, Trent, and Adani Enterprises fell more than 1% each.

Sectoral Performance

• Positive Sectors: Only three out of twelve sectoral indices ended in the green.
  • Nifty Media led with +0.93%.
  • Nifty FMCG inched up +0.11%.
  • Nifty PSU Bank added +0.05%.
• Underperforming Sectors:
  • Nifty IT and Nifty Bank suffered the most, declining 0.75% and 0.53%, respectively.

Most Traded Stocks

Trading volumes were concentrated in a few high-activity stocks:

• Tata Silver ETF led the chart with a total volume of 54.57 crore shares.
• Vodafone Idea followed with over 53 crore shares traded.
• Silver BEES saw 28.53 crore shares change hands.
• Other high-volume stocks included Hindustan Copper and HFCL.

Significant Price Movements

• Stocks with Over 10% Gains:
  • Prakash Steel Cage, Rajnandini Metal, and Country Condo surged to the 20% upper price band.
  • Orient Bell, Bandhan Silver ETF, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, and Madhav Copper also rose significantly.
• Stocks with Over 10% Declines:
  • Krishival Foods Limited, Brooks Laboratories, and Modi Rubber saw declines exceeding 10%.

52-Week Highs and Lows

• Highs: 76 stocks reached 52-week highs today, including Cupid, Eicher Motors, Hindalco, Hindustan Zinc, MCX, Titan, and Vedanta.
• Lows: 130 stocks touched 52-week lows, with names like Blue Stone, Godrej Agro, PC Jeweller, Shoppers Stop, and Sigachi leading the decline.

Market Breadth

The advance-decline ratio tilted in favour of sellers:

• For every one stock that gained, two stocks declined.
• On NSE, 1022 shares advanced, while 2188 shares declined, indicating a stronger presence of selling pressure in today’s trading session.

Summary

The market’s cautious stance on Monday reflects the combination of thin holiday trading and persistent foreign selling. Sensex and Nifty losses over consecutive sessions point to consolidation, while broader indices like Midcap and Smallcap faced steeper falls. Metals and FMCG stocks stood out as bright spots, while IT, banking, and key large-cap names underperformed. Trading volumes concentrated in silver ETFs and select telecom stocks highlighted focused activity in a broadly subdued market.

As the year-end approaches, investors are likely to remain watchful, with market direction hinging on broader sentiment and upcoming developments.

Source: Livemint