The benchmark equity indices ended lower on Wednesday and broader market indices continued a selloff for the third consecutive day.
The Nifty ended below 22,000 for the first time in March at 21,997.70, down 338 points or 1.51%. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 72,761.89, down 906.07 points or 1.23%.
After a long time, the index closed below the 20-day simple-moving average and also formed a long bearish candle on daily charts, which is largely negative, according to Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities. "We are of the view that the short-term texture of the market turned bearish from the bullish."
For day traders, 22,200/73,600 would act as a trend-decisive level. Below it, the market could slip to 21,900–21,800/72,500–72,200. On the flip side, above 22,000/72,800 is a minor pullback, according to Chouhan.
The Nifty Midcap 150 closed 4.17% lower and the Nifty Smallcap 250 ended 5.18% lower, their biggest fall in two years.
Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd., NTPC Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., and Power Grid Corp. dragged the Nifty 50.
ITC Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., and Cipla Ltd. cushioned the fall.
All sectoral indices, except the Nifty FMCG, ended lower on the NSE, with Nifty Metal and Nifty Media losing the most.
The small-cap and mid-cap indices on the BSE ended sharply lower, eroding as much as Rs 6.88 lakh crore in market cap in a day. The S&P BSE SmallCap ended 5.1% at 40,565.96, the lowest level since Nov. 30. The BSE MidCap settled 4.20% lower at 37,591.15, the lowest level since Jan. 23.
All 20 sectoral indices on the BSE ended lower.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers as 3,512 stocks declined, 404 advanced and 60 remained unchanged on the BSE.
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