Sensex sheds 325 pts,Nifty below 19,450, financial services stocks worst hit

The Indian equity benchmark indices traded lower on Monday,dragged by information technology (IT) and financial stocks, while investors awaited domestic retail inflation data for October. At close,Sensex was down 325.58 points or 0.50 percent at 64,933.87, and the Nifty was down 82.00 points or 0.42 percent at 19,443.55. About 1659 shares advanced, 2043 shares declined, while 132 shares were unchanged.
Stocks and Sectors
Coal India, Eicher Motors,NTPC, Hindalco,M&M, Power Grid Corp.,BPCL, Induslnd Bank were among the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers imcludedBajaj Finance, Infosys, Grasim.
On the sectoral front, all indices except PSU Bank and Realty ended the trade in a negative territory. Smallcap and Midcap stocks gained marginally among the other sectoral indices while Consumer Durables and IT stocks shed.The stocks that claimed 52-week highs included Coal India, Aurobindo Pharma, DB Realty, Canara Bank, Federal Bank, among many others. Orient Bell shares, however, sunk to a 52-week low.
On 13 Nov'23,the Indian rupee depreciated 4 paise to close at 83.32 against the US dollar in the morning session on Monday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities. Persistent foreign fund outflows also weighed on the local unit, forex traders said.
Experts Take:
Post-Diwali, Indian equities continued consolidation amid global uncertainty. The sharp deceleration in IIP growth, from 10.3% in August to 5.8% in September, and weakening Manufacturing PMI reflect global trends driven by rising interest rates and inflation. The Indian Rupee's weakness keeps FIIs cautious. However, the market's downside is limited by strong earnings, economic stability, and domestic institutional flows. A potential reversal is likely, as domestic October CPI inflation is expected to moderate. Notably, public sector banks are outperforming due to strong credit growth, improved asset quality, and robust balance sheets, and this trend is expected to persist, said market experts.Market experts have recommended five stocks to buy for Monday/Axis Bank, NMDC, CUB, QUESS and Apollo Pipes.

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