Stock Markets Plunge After Early Gains, Traders Brace for Monthly Derivatives Expiry
In Mumbai, the stock market saw a rollercoaster session on Thursday as the equity benchmark indices initially climbed in early trade but later gave up all the gains, quoting lower on the emergence of profit-taking. This came amid the scheduled monthly derivatives expiry and a muted trend in the US markets.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 118.2 points to reach 67,020.11 in early trade, while the Nifty went up 39.55 points to 20,136.15. However, both indices gave up all the early gains and were trading lower later in the day, with the Sensex at 66,687.07 and the Nifty at 20,040.80.
Among the Sensex firms, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, Wipro, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Larsen & Toubro were the major gainers, while Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, and NTPC were among the laggards.
In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded with gains, while Seoul and Tokyo quoted in the negative territory. The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday, and overnight weakness in the US markets along with a fall in Asian indices could limit the gains in the Indian market, according to Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd.
He also mentioned that intra-day volatility could be seen as traders square off their positions on the monthly expiry day. The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, declined 0.18 per cent to USD 82.95 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 71.91 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. On Wednesday, the BSE benchmark jumped 727.71 points or 1.10 per cent to settle at 66,901.91, while the Nifty climbed 206.90 points or 1.04 per cent to reclaim the 20,000-mark after a gap of over two months and ended at 20,096.60.