Top gainers and losers on November 18: NIFTY50, SENSEX fall for 7th straight day; TCS declines 3.1%

Benchmark NIFTY slid for the seventh straight session while SENSEX dropped by 241 points in a restricted trade on Monday, dragged down by losses in IT, pharma, and oil and gas shares.

NIFTY50 declined by 78.9 points, or 0.34%, to settle at 23,453 as 29 of its constituents dropped while 21 advanced. The key index opened higher but soon pared gains and traded in the negative zone for most part of the session. The index hit a low of 23,350 during the day.

As many as 1,732 stocks declined, 1,100 advanced, and 92 closed unchanged on the NSE. The 30-share SENSEX declined by 241 points, or 0.31%, at 77,339, marking its fourth straight day of losses.

Among sectoral indices, NIFTY IT was the biggest loser, dragged by TCS, LTI Mindtree and Infosys. Oil & Gas, Pharma, and Media shares also declined. Buying in metal, auto and banking shares helped restrict losses in the indices.

TCS, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Infosys biggest losers

IT services giant TCS emerged as the biggest loser among NIFTY shares, dropping by 3.11%. Fading hopes of a Fed rate cut in December have hit expectations of increased spending by the BFSI players hitting US market-focused shares.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories declined 2.75% amid losses in pharma shares. Infosys tanked 2.65% at the close after hitting a day's low of ₹1,795 on NSE.

BPCL shares dropped by 2.62% amid reports the oil PSU is facing farmers protests over the laying of a petroleum pipeline in Tamil Nadu. Among other NIFTY constituents, Cipla closed lower by 2.38%, while Wipro declined 2.25%.

Hindalco, Hero MotoCorp, and Tata Steel major gainer

Hindalco Industries was the biggest NIFTY gainer, rising by 3.79%. Metal shares advanced on Monday after China announced the withdrawal of a 13% export rebate on aluminium and copper products effective December 1. Hero MotoCorp shares rose by 2.69% after experts placed bullish bets on the stock following its strong September quarter results. Tata Steel moved up by 2.33% closing near the day's high. Nestle India rose by 1.47%, while Hindustan Unilever gained 1.46% amid value buying in FMCG shares.