Market ends flat after choppy session as steel stocks dent investor sentiment

Dragged by metal counters, the benchmarks gave up 1 per cent intra-day gains after several brokerages downgraded the sector after the government imposed export duties on iron ore and some steel intermediaries.

The 30-share pack Sensex shed 37.78 points to close at 54,288.61. Its broader peer, Nifty50, fell 51.45 points, declining over 500 points from the day’s high to close below the 16,250 mark. The index has declined and registered losses in the last 3 out of 4 sessions.

“Markets gave up all its gains in afternoon trade today as it simply could not recover after the export tax imposed on steel products with the metal Index falling almost 9 per cent to 5,200 levels in morning trade,” said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at .

Within minutes of the opening bell, shares of

, and hit the lower circuit. Nifty Metal declined over 8 per cent, the worst day since March 2020. Auto stocks zoomed, on the flipside, aided by the government’s decision to slash excise duty on petrol and diesel.

The Nifty Auto index rose 1.8%, as automakers stand to benefit from lower input costs following the tax changes.

India and Mahindra and Mahindra were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, rising 4% each.

Prospects of additional market borrowings by the GOI in the wake of the tax cuts on fuel to tame inflation also came to the forefront, Ranganathan added.

M&M, Maruti Suzuki,

, and L&T were among the top Nifty gainers, while JSW Steel, Tata Steel, , and settled lower.

Shares of

also surged 7.38 per cent post March quarter results.


Market at a glance

-Divi’s Lab fell 10% following management commentary on Q4

-Amara Raja declined 6% after weak March quarter numbers

-Jet Airways hit a 5% upper circuit after DGCA reissued the air operator certificate

-Ashok Leyland rose over 4%, top midcap gainer, after the brokerage upgrade

– Volatility index India VIX rose 1.29%

LIC shares also attempted to bounce back and rose 2.5 per cent in trade but eventually settled 1.4 per cent lower.

Mid- and small-caps also ended on a weak note as Nifty Midcap 100 shed 0.35 per cent and small-cap slipped 0.80 per cent. The market breadth was skewed in favour of bears. About 1,421 stocks advanced, 1,989 declined and 167 remained unchanged.

13 out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the NSE– settled with cuts.

Meanwhile, Asian markets in Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo ended higher, while Hong Kong settled lower.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mostly higher in the afternoon session. US futures rose as the market tried to recover some of the losses from a relentless sell-off that has gripped Wall Street.