Sensex, Nifty witness volatile trading; auto, banking stocks slump

MUMBAI: The Indian stock market's key indices, Sensex and Nifty, slumped on Monday dragged by heavy selling pressure in auto and banking stocks. The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex was trading 273.69 points or 0.48 per cent down at 57,153.23 points at 1.30 pm against its previous session's close at 57,426.92 points.

Earlier, the Sensex started the day marginally down at 57,403.92 points but witnessed heavy selling pressure in the late morning trade. The Sensex slumped to a low of 56,875.05 points in the morning session. The Sensex briefly turned positive in the morning session rising to a high of 57,454.84 points.

The Sensex had gained 1016.96 points or 1.80 per cent on Friday, the previous trading session. The markets had witnessed a strong rally on Friday after the monetary policy announcement by the RBI.

On the expected lines, the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee decided to raise policy repo rate by 50 basis points or 0.50 per cent to 5.90 per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met on 28th, 29th and 30th of September 2022.

Based on an assessment of the macroeconomic situation and its outlook, the MPC decided by a majority of five members out of six to increase the policy repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.9 per cent, with immediate effect, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said while making announcement about the MPC decisions.

Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 5.65 per cent; and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.15 per cent.

The MPC also decided by a majority of 5 out of 6 members to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth, the governor said.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading 98.30 points or 0.58 per cent down at 16,996.05 points against its previous session's close at 17,094.35 points. Earlier, the Nifty started the day in the positive at 17,102.10 points and rose to a high of 17,114.65 points in the early morning trade.

The Nifty fell sharply within an hour of the opening of the trade. It slumped to a low of 16,946.00 points. The Nifty had gained 276.25 points or 1.64 per cent on Friday. Maruti Suzuki slumped around 3 per cent. There was heavy selling pressure in banking and financial stocks. Kotak Bank dipped 2.18 per cent to Rs 1781.55.

ICICI Bank dipped 1.51 per cent to Rs 849.80. IndusInd Bank dipped 1.37 per cent to Rs 1170. ITC, Hindustan Unilever, L&T, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid Corporation and State Bank of India were among the major Sensex losers. Dr Reddy's Laboratories jumped 1.48 per cent to Rs 4398. Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement and Wipro were among the major Sensex gainers.