SENSEX, NIFTY50 subdued; IT shares fall on profit booking, PSU banks rise

The Indian equity benchmarks were witnessing wild swings on Monday, October 19, dragged down by HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and NTPC. However, the downside was capped owing to buying in ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro and Adani Ports.

The SENSEX traded in a band of 681 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,155 and a low of 22,970.

As of 9:46 am, the SENSEX was up 39 points at 74,768 and NIFTY50 index advanced 9 points to 23,155.

Most of the Asian markets were trading lower tracking a spike in crude prices in global markets. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.01%, China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.24% and South Korea's KOSPI index dropped 0.5%.

Brent crude futures declined as much as 1.9% but stayed close to $108 per barrel after US President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs on Russia that may lead to more Russian fuel exports, analysts said.

The move came after Trump struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to export diesel to ‌the ⁠United States. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said these US actions will hurt Ukraine, the report added.

Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as 12 of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading lower led by the NIFTY Private Bank index's nearly 2% fall. NIFTY IT, Financial Services, Bank, Auto, FMCG, Metal and Consumer Durables indices also fell between 0.5% and 1%.

On the other hand, NIFTY PSU Bank index was top sectoral gainer, the index surged 2% led by gains in State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank and Union Bank of India.

Pharma and healthcare shares were also witnessing buying interest.

Broader markets were also facing selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 index declined 0.6% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index fell 0,73%.

Axis Bank was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock dropped over 4% to ₹1,225 after its net profit on a sequential basis declined 1.3%.

HDFC Bank, Nestle India, HDFC Life, Tata Consumer Products, Shriram Finance, Trent, Tata Motors PV, Infosys, Apollo Hospitals, Hindustan Unilever and Adani Enterprises also fell between 0.4% and 1.5%.

On the flip side, Ultratech Cement, State Bank of India, ONGC, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Eicher Motors, L&T, TCS, Grasim and Titan were top gainer in the NIFTY59 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,036 shares were declining while 975 were advancing on the NSE.