Bearish trend persists: Sensex records 3rd straight day of losses

The Indian equity benchmark indices continued to face selling pressure in Thursday's trade as HDFC Bank shares extended their slide. At close, the Sensex was down 313.90 points or 0.44 percent at 71,186.86, and the Nifty was down 109.70 points or 0.51 percent at 21,462.25. About 1481 shares advanced, 1737 shares declined, and 70 shares unchanged.
Stocks and Sectors
Sun Pharma, Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors and Axis Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty while losers included LTIMindtree, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Titan Company and Asian Paints.
On the sectoral front,bank, FMCG, IT, metal and power down 0.3-1 percent, while auto, capital goods, healthcare, oil & gas and realty up 0.3-0.7 percent. BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended on a flat note.
On 18 Jan'24,the Indian rupee depreciated 1 paisa to close 83.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid rising crude oil prices and withdrawal of foreign funds.Despite a weak American currency against major overseas rivals, negative sentiment in domestic equity markets kept the Indian currency under pressure, forex traders said.
Experts Take:
Market experts have recommended six stocks to buy for Thursday- Cochin Shipyard, SDBL, BEL, Power Grid Corporation of India, IOC, and LT Finance.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)