Market Wrap, February 20: SENSEX, NIFTY50 extend loss for third session; broader market continues to outshine

Following the cues of the Asian market, the equity benchmark indices continued to fall on Thursday, February 20, for the third straight session as the investors remained nervous amid US tariff policies and its impact.

Traders were also cautious as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest monthly bulletin-February 2025 has said that the global economy continues to grow at a steady but moderate pace, with a divergent outlook across countries amid rapidly evolving political and technological landscapes.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 75,735.96, falling 203.22 points, or 0.27%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index ended at 22,913.15, down 19.75 points, or 0.09%.

Meanwhile, the broader indices outperformed the benchmark indices by a wider margin, rising almost 1.2%.

Besides, financial markets remain on edge about the slowing pace of disinflation and the potential impact of tariffs. Emerging market economies (EMEs) are witnessing selling pressures from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and currency depreciation engendered by a strong US dollar.

On the global front, the US continued its winning streak by gaining 0.3% across key indices. In addition, the Fed officials sounded concerned about rising inflation in the US and warned caution in the interest rate policy. Following hawkish FOMC minutes, the gold prices edged higher to new record levels of $2,942 per ounce.

The US markets closed in green on Wednesday ahead of key economic data on jobless claims, scheduled to be released on Thursday. The S&P 500 closed at new record high levels by gaining 0.27%, followed by the Dow Jones and NASDAQ, which gained marginally.

Asian markets were trading lower after Indonesia's central bank left its interest rate unchanged on Wednesday after cutting it by a quarter-point last month and hinting at further reduction this year.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng declined 249.74 points or 1.09% to 22,694.50, Jakarta Composite plunged 2.52 points or 0.04% to 6,792.35, Shanghai Composite weakened 0.45 points or 0.01% to 3,351.09, Straits Times fell 6.53 points or 0.17% to 3,927.51, KOSPI dropped 24.40 points or 0.91% to 2,647.12, Nikkei 225 slipped 536.24 points or 1.37% to 38,628.37 and Taiwan Weighted lost 116.62 points or 0.5% to 23,487.46.

As many as 4,053 stocks traded on the BSE on Thursday. Out of this, 2,668 advanced and only 1,274 stocks declined while 111 scrips remained unchanged.

A total of 56 stocks hit their 52-week highs while 155 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 300 stocks hit their upper circuit limits and only 217 touched their lower circuit bands on Thursday.

The broader market continued to outshine on Thursday with BSE MidCap index ending at 40,310.81, surging 478.20 points, or 1.18%, while the BSE SmallCap index settled at 45,453.92 levels, soaring 599.11 points, or 1.18%.

Among sectors, except for BSE Bankex (-0.50%), Financial Services (-0.25%), Focused IT (-0.10%) and FMCG (-0.04%), all the other sectors settled positive. BSE Power (2.19%), Utilities (2.17%), Metal (2.02%), Oil and Gas (1.66%), Industrials (1.55%) and Auto (1.30%) were the top contributors.

As many as 28 stocks on the NIFTY50 index traded positive, while the remaining 22 closed in red. The top five gainers on the index were Shriram Finance, NTPC, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), Bharat Electronics and Adani Ports rising as much as 4%.

On the flip side, the top five losers were HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consumer Products and HCL Technologies, declining as much as 2.39% on the 50-share index.

The scrip was among the top contributors on the NIFTY50 index. It settled at ₹2,832.35 apiece on NSE, rising 2.72%.

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