Sensex down 460 pts; SMIDs turn positive; PSBs, YES Bank rally

Indian benchmark indices — BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty — were lower today amid concerns over US President Donald Trump’s fresh tariffs on steel imports.

That apart, rising Covid-19 cases in the country, selling by FIIs, rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and nervousness ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) monetary policy outcome weighed on the sentiment on Monday.

The Sensex index was at 80,921 level, lower by 529 points or 0.65 per cent, while the Nifty was at 24,584, down 167 points or 0.67 per cent.

HDFC Bank, L&T, Tata Steel, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Tech M, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, and Tata Motors were the top laggards, down up to 1.7 per cent.

On the upside, HUL, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, and SBI were limiting losses.

In the broader markets, the Nifty MidCap and the Nifty SmallCap rose. The former was up 0.28 per cent, while the latter was up 0.51 per cent. Fear gauge India VIX soared 8 per cent in early deals.

Among sectors, the Nifty IT index fell over 1 per cent, followed by the Nifty Metal index (down 0.9 per cent). On the contrary, the Nifty PSU Bank index was up 1.16 per cent.

Buzzing Stocks

Niva Bupa share price declined 10 per ceny after nearly 7 per cent equity changes hands on the counter. According to reports, Fettle Tone LLP, and MD and CEO Krishnan Ramachandran were, together, planning to sell 7.2 per cent stake in the company via block deals.

Welspun Corp, Vedanta, JSW Steel, Lloyds, NMDC, SAIL, and Tata Steel were the top losers in the metal pack amid Donald Trump’s steel tariff threat.

IPO today

In the IPO corner, Aegis Vopak IPO (Mainline) and Schloss Bangalore IPO (Mainline) will list on the bourses.

Scoda Tubes IPO (Mainline), N R Vandana IPO (SME), and Neptune Petrochemicals IPO (SME) will see their allotment.