PSU bank stocks fall the most among sectoral indices

NEW DELHI: The Nifty ended on a down note while most sectoral indices closed in the red on Monday. With declines of 3.09 per cent and 1.44 per cent, respectively, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metal were among the top losing sectors, said Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.

While BSE Sensex plunged 483 points to close at 65,512, Nifty declined 141 points to end at 19,512.

Middle East instability followed an unanticipated attack by Hamas on Israel over the weekend, whereas pessimism was felt on both the international and domestic markets due to concern that rising geopolitical tensions may arise from allegations that Iran was involved in the assault plot.

Rising US bond rates, increasing crude oil prices, and FII selling in Indian markets all contributed to the market's gloom. The intraday peak of 4.8 per cent for the 10-year US Treasury rates was the highest since August 2007.

Similarly, the 30-year bond broke beyond the 5 per cent threshold for the first time since August 2007, Vidwani said.

Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp, BPCL, HDFC Life, and M&M were among the Nifty's top losers, while the top gainers were HCL Technologies, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, TCS, Tata Consumer, and HUL.

All Nifty sectors ended in red with major selling seen in PSU banks, metals, and consumer durables, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Concerns over rate hikes after strong US jobs data and a surge in oil prices due to war in West Asia made the investors cautious.

"In the near term, we expect markets to remain volatile amid geopolitical stress and inflationary pressure ahead of CPI data to be released by the US, Europe, and China later during the week," Khemka said.