Markets end at lowest level since November 24; metal stocks melt

Extending losses for 7th session, Nifty fell below the 8,000 mark for the first time since Nov 25

Benchmark indices ended negative today on broad-based selling amid weak global cues as Asian stocks trade lower after Wall Street fell in overnight trade.

Investors also remained cautious as the cash crunch continued to weigh on expectations for the December quarter earnings. Two-day GST Council Meet which starts today also affected the sentiment.

Nifty, which fell below the 8,000 mark for the first time since November 25, extending losses for a seventh straight session, its longest losing streak in 1-1/2 years. S&P BSE Sensex also breached its crucial 25,000 level.

Markets last recorded a seven-day losing streak in June 2015, when the IMD cut its monsoon forecast for the year.

S&P BSE Sensex ended 263 points lower at 25,980, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 7,979, down 82 points. The broad market too depicted weakness with BSE Midcap falling 1.39% while BSE Smallcap also ended 1.22% lower.

"Nifty broke 8000 mark on continued selling by FIIs. Melting global base metal prices has negatively impacted the domestic metal index which is down by 3% today. Lack of domestic cues to support under such global headwinds is causing the Indian market to underperform. GST council meet will be under the market’s radar and also expensive consumer oriented companies which are likely to be most impacted in Q3 results," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

Meanwhile, India VIX extended gains for second straight day, was up 4.86% at 15.4200.

Sectors and stocks

All sectors were trading in red; metals, banks, capital goods, oil & gas, IT and power crack the most.

Nifty Bank ended at lowest level since June 30, below 17,900 level dragged by Axis Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Canara Bank, down between 2-2.5%.

Only six of thirty stocks in S&P BSE Sensex ended in green. Adani Ports, Tata Steel, ONGC and Bharti Airtel were the top losers in the index.  ITC, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Wipro, TCS and Cipla were the only stocks that settled in green.

BSE Metals was the top sectoral loser, down over 3%. All stocks in the index were trading in red led by Hindalco, Vendanta, NALCO and JSPL.

Among other stocks, shares of SPARC, the subsidiary of healthcare major Sun Pharma, surged nearly 7 percent intraday before settling 1.5% higher after receiving complete response letter from the US health regulator for preservative-free eye drop.

Global markets

Asian shares struggled on Thursday after a lacklustre performance on Wall Street as investors looked to US economic data later in the day for potential catalysts, as markets wind down ahead of the holidays.

The subdued mood carried over into European trading. European shares edged lower dropping further from their highest levels of the year.

The STOXX 600 was down 0.2%, falling for a second straight session after hitting its highest level since January 4 on Tuesday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan erased early modest gains and slipped 0.5%, while Japan's Nikkei stock index finished 0.1% lower, edging down from this week's one-year highs.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.7% after touching its lowest levels since July, though Australian shares ended up 0.5%, extending gains into a fourth straight session.

Photograph: Arko Dutta/Reuters