On Wednesday, amidst heightened volatility and profit-taking activities, the benchmark stock market indices witnessed a significant downturn, marking the most substantial decline in five weeks.
The S&P BSE Sensex concluded the trading day 790.34 points lower, settling at 72,304.88, while the NSE Nifty50 experienced a decline of 247.21 points, ending at 21,951.15. The broader market indices also underwent substantial losses during the trading session.
This week, both benchmark indices have recorded a decline of 1.2 percent, following a period of nearly two weeks during which they registered gains of almost 2 percent.
Analysts predominantly attribute this sharp downturn to profit-taking activities by investors, particularly in anticipation of key economic data releases. Notably, India's Q3FY24 GDP figures, expected to be unveiled on Thursday, are anticipated to reveal a moderation in growth to 6.6 percent. Furthermore, attention is directed towards the release of additional US economic data scheduled for the same day.
Pravesh Gour, Senior Technical Analyst at Swastika Investment Ltd, commented on the multifaceted nature of stock market movements, highlighting the occurrence of corrections as a common phenomenon. Gour suggested that investors with long-term perspectives might view this downturn as an opportunity for purchasing.
Various factors have contributed to this decline, including profit-taking following substantial gains, potential large-scale selling of Indian stocks by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), and apprehension surrounding impending economic indicators such as GDP data and US economic statistics, including the PCE price index and manufacturing PMI numbers.
Additionally, concerns regarding a possible partial shutdown of the US government on March 1st in the absence of a spending bill have added to the market's unease.
All 13 major sectors observed losses, with the Nifty PSU declining by 2.3 percent and Nifty Financials dropping by 1 percent. Only four Nifty50 stocks concluded the session with gains, namely HUL, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, and TCS, while Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, Apollo Hospitals, Eicher Motors, and IndusInd Bank emerged as the top losers.
Specifically, shares of digital payments firm Paytm experienced a lower circuit of 5 percent after registering gains over multiple sessions. On the other hand, Juniper Hotels, despite a subdued market debut, managed to gain over 10 percent by the closing bell.
