Benchmark indexes Nifty and Sensex slumped into red on Monday, March 11, pausing a two-day rally. The market witnessed a heavy sell-off in almost all the sectors. A drop in HDFC Bank and Tata Group stocks, along with investors being cautious ahead of key domestic and US inflation data due on Tuesday, impacted domestic market sentiment.
The stronger-than-expected US non-farm payroll data and caution ahead of the release of US inflation data kept investors on edge.
The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 617 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at 73,503, while the NSE Nifty-50 settled 161 points, or 0.72 per cent, lower at 22,333.
In the forex market, the Indian rupee today ended at 82 rupees and 76 paise against the US dollar.
In intra-day trading, the Gold in Multi Commodity Exchange for the April contract was trading at 66,072 rupees per 10 gram and Silver for the May contract was trading at 74,425 rupees per kg when reports last came in.
In the global oil market intra-day trade, Brent Crude was trading at 82 dollars and 38 cents per barrel when reports last came in.
Most largecaps closed in red with Tata Steel, Power Grid, SBI, HUL, Tata Consumer, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors and NTPC leading the decline with 1-3 per cent losses.
The fall was aggravated after the Supreme Court dismissed SBI‘s plea, directing it to fetch details of electoral bonds by Tuesday, March 12. The stock lost nearly 2 per cent.
A five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud passed the judgement on Monday, ordering the bank to disclose details by March 12. The Election Commission has been directed to publish this information by March 15.