Markets plunge on heavy selling; crucial support at 14500

The markets ended in negative territory for the second day in a row on Wednesday (May 12). The benchmark Indices closed on a negative note with Sensex down 0.96% and Nifty 50 dipped 1.04% mostly led by metal stocks which saw a profit booking with Nifty Metal closing down 2.97%. Large financials and commodities were under pressure too.

Mohit Nigam, President, PMS, Hem Securities, said 14,500 remains a crucial support and market needs to close higher than 14,800 to confirm positive momentum in near-term. Tata Motors, Titan and Maruti were among the top gainers while Tata steel, JSW Steel and Indusind Bank were among the top losers in Nifty 50 today." he said.

Extending its losses to the second session, equity benchmark Sensex slumped 471 points on Wednesday, dragged by selling in index majors ICICI Bank, HUL and Reliance Industries amid mixed cues from global markets. The 30-share BSE index ended 471.01 points or 0.96% lower at 48,690.80. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 154.25 points or 1.04% to 14,696.50.

IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 3%, followed by HUL, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, M&M and Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, Titan, Maruti, PowerGrid, SBI and NTPC were among the gainers.

Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking said, domestic equity bourses made a weak opening tracking the overnight sell-off in the US market over worries on inflation and commodity prices. "Investors have turned cautious as a hike in US treasury yield over the disappointing US inflation could lead to FPI outflows from Indian bourses. Moody’s cut on domestic growth forecast also dented sentiments. All the major sectoral indices were seen under pressure; Nifty PSU bank was the top performer with 3.2% gains while Nifty Metal was the worst performer. Market participants will keep a close eye on IIP, CPI data and US inflation data," he added.

The market has formed bearish continuation formation. However, as the markets are range bound, till the Nifty/Sensex does not closing below the levels of 14,600/48,400, we would do a pullback towards 14,800/49,000 levels, said Shrikant Chouhan, Executive VP, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities. The focus should be on the cement, PSU banks and auto stocks if the market remains strong, he said.