Sensex, Nifty plunge amid Adani scandal, global woes

The domestic market benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex dropped sharply on Thursday, as fresh bribery allegations against Gautam Adani led to a crash in Adani Group stocks, eroding investor confidence amidst global uncertainties.At close, the Sensex was down 422.59 points or 0.54 percent at 77,155.79, while the Nifty fell 168.60 points or 0.72 percent at 23,349.90.
Power Grid Corp, UltraTech Cement, Hindalco Industries, HCL Tech and Grasim Industries were the top gainers on the Nifty while losers included Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, SBI Life Insurance, NTPC and SBI.On the sectoral front, Energy, FMCG, Oil & Gas, PSU Bank, Media, Auto, and Metal were down 1-2 percent, while Realty index gained 1 percent and Information Technology index rose 0.5 percent.BSE Midcap index was down 0.3 percent and smallcap index fell 0.6 percent.
Rupee Close:
On 21 Nov'24,the Indian rupee depreciated 8 paise to settle at an all-time low of 84.50  against the U.S. dollar on Thursday , dragged down by massive sell-off in domestic equity markets and surging crude oil prices amid a volatile geopolitical situation.The forex traders reportedly stated, the American currency strengthened due to safe- haven appeal amid escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine, while the continuous outflow of foreign funds also put pressure on the domestic unit.
Trading Guide:
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services reportedly quoted as saying, the domestic market faced renewed pressure due to escalating tensions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and heightened the nuclear concerns. Additionally, the fresh Adani case with the US DoJ added to the market's woes. Although there were signs of a slowdown in FII selling, it surged again, adversely affecting market sentiment particularly financials sector. We expect an improvement in the trend when global & domestic political issues stabilise.
Market experts have recommended five shares to buy -CarTrade Tech Ltd, T D Power Systems Ltd, National Aluminium Co. Ltd (NALCO) , ICICI Bank Ltd and Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR).

(Business Correpondent)