Indian equities remained under pressure, with sell-offs dragging the indices down for the fourth straight session.
The benchmark Sensex closed 337.66 points or 0.58% down at 57,900.19. It has seen a decline of 4.06% or 2,447.90 points in four sessions since March 9.
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“The fallout of SVB and Signature bank has rattled investor sentiment in the last few sessions, and with the prospect of a further rate hike, the mood continues to be ‘caution with a negative bias’. The Bank Nifty closed below 39,600 but remained above the previous lower support of 39,400, which could help the index pull back recent losses in the near term. However, if 39,100 is dismissed, it could slide towards 38,500,” said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research (retail), Kotak Securities.
The Nifty PSU Bank index shed 1.9%, while the private bank was down 0.41%. Bandhan Bank was the biggest laggard, down 5.25%, while Kotak, AU Bank and Federal Bank shed over 1%. ICICI, IndusInd, and PNB ended marginally in the green.
The Adani twins were the major laggards in the Nifty universe, with Adani Enterprises down 7.7% and Adani Ports down 4%.
Among Sensex components, Titan and Airtel led gains, up 0.93% and 0.8%, with most closing in the red. Banking stocks were a mixed bag, with ICICI, IndusInd, and Axis gaining for the day, while HDFC Bank, SBI and Kotak ended with losses.
Market breadth remained negative, with 1,129 stocks advancing on the BSE, and 2,410 declining.
The BSE MidCap and SmallCap skid 0.46% and 0.86%, respectively, while the LargeCap was down 0.66%. All sectoral indices, except the capital goods index, closed in the red. The power, realty, services, and teck indices shed over 1%.
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DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,121.94 crore, while FIIs continued to be net sellers to the tune of Rs 3,086.96 crore, according to provisional data from the exchanges.
Among Asian indices, the Hang Seng was down 2.27%, KOSPI declined 2.56%, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 2.19%. Australia’s ASX200, too, slipped 1.5%.