Widespread fear among investors regarding interest rate hikes coupled with possibilities of a global economic slowdown pulled Indian stock markets down on Monday as Sensex and Nifty 50 suffered a 1.5% decline in their index values.
General sentiments among global capital markets that central banks would increase benchmark interest rates to tame inflation along with statement made by US Federal Reserve officials about the possibilities of stronger rate hikes put markets in an unfavourable position.
The strengthening dollar and weakening index also affected the markets on the first trading day of the week.
Statement by economists regarding possible recession in Germany, the largest economy in the European Union, also acted as a hurdle for investors and traders.
Sensex
S&P BSE SENSEX of Bombay Stock Exchange declined by 872.28 points ( -1.46%) on Monday to close the market at 58,773.87 points. Sensex which closed at 59,646.15 points on Friday opened at 59,361.08 points today and went as high as 59,402.50 points.
With the back-to-back losses for consecutive 2 trading days, Sensex has declined by more than 1500 points. Latest reports suggested that equity investors lost 6.5 trillion rupees in the last two trading days alone.
Top gainers on Sensex on Monday were ITC and Nestle India.
Shares of Indian Tobacco Company Ltd listed on the Bombay stock exchange gained 2.4 rupees on Monday to conclude trading at 314.40 rupees per share.
Top losers on Monday were Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Wipro, Sun pharma laboratories, Larsen and Toubro, and Bajaj Finance.
Tata Steel Limited lost 5 rupees per share today to close trading at 105.05 rupees per share.
Out of 30 stocks traded on Sensex, only 2 stocks closed markets in green on Monday. The rest of the 28 stocks suffered huge losses during the trading day.
Out of 3706 stocks traded on various indices on the Bombay stock exchange, 1712 stocks advanced while 2,387 stocks suffered losses. The value of 147 stocks remained unchanged during the day.
156 stocks touched 52-week high levels and 46 stocks touched the 52-week low mark.
Nifty 50
The Benchmark index of the national stock exchange, Nifty 5o, suffered losses today as the index saw a decline of 267.75 points during the trading day. Nifty 50 declined by -1.51% to close markets at a last traded price of 17,490.70.
Top gainers on Nifty 50 were Tata Consumer Products Limited, Coal India, Indian Tobacco Company, Britannia, and Nestle India.
The top losers on Monday were Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Asian Paint, Divis Labs and JSW Steel.
Out of 50 stocks traded on Nifty 5o, 5 stocks advanced during the day while 45 stocks concluded trading in the red.