Market Meltdown: Sensex crashes over 1,200 pts, Nifty below 26k

The domestic share market indices, Sensex and Nifty on Monday saw a steep sell-off as bears dragged the BSE Sensex more than 1,300 points lower and pushed the Nifty below 25,800 intraday. Geopolitical tensions and caution ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Powell's speech later in the day sparked the sell-off, with weak global cues contributing to a lower market opening. The losses intensified as the session progressed, leaving the market near its intraday low, with selling seen across sectors except for metal and media.At close, the Sensex was down 1,272.07 points or 1.49 percent at 84,299.78, and the Nifty was down 368.10 points or 1.41 percent at 25,810.85.
JSW Steel, Hindalco Industries, NTPC, Tata Steel, and Britannia Industries were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Hero MotoCorp, Trent, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharat Electronics.
On the sectoral front,except metal and media (up 1 percent each), all other sectoral indices ended in the red with auto, bank, IT, telecom, pharma, and realty down 1-2 percent.The BSE midcap index ended with marginal losses, while the smallcap index ended flat.
Meanwhile,Foreign investors have poured Rs 57,359 crore into Indian equities in September, making it the highest inflow in nine months, mainly driven by a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.With this infusion, foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs) investment in equities has surpassed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark in 2024, according to estimates.
Rupee Close:
On 30 Sep'24,the Indian rupee depreciated 11 paise to settle at 83.80 against the U.S. dollar on Monday  taking cues from equity markets that saw a steep fall of over 1% amid volatile crude oil prices and outflow of foreign funds.However, a weak greenback against major currencies supported the local unit, Forex traders reportedly stated, while investors showed muted participation awaiting cues from domestic macroeconomic data to be released this week.
Trading Guide:
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services reportedly quoted as saying,global markets turned topsy turvy under the threat of rising geopolitical risk in the Middle-East and plausible increase in Yen interest rate which can reduce cross country investments in equity.
On the contrary, the Chinese market had a resurgence due to a large stimulus package and cheap valuation.India also weakend under the global pressure and premium valuation while metals are expected to outperform in the near-term.
Going ahead the domestic focus will be on the upcoming Q2 results where earnings growth is expected to revert after the dull Q1.
Market experts have recommended five stocks to buy- Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Bombay Burmah Trading Corp, Sonata Software, Piramal Enterprises and Maharashtra Seamless.

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