SENSEX down over 550 pts in early trade, NIFTY50 holds on to 22,600; Pfizer shares up 3%, Swiggy falls 3%

At 9:24 AM, the S&P BSE SENSEX was trading at 74,750.44, down 560.62 points, or 0.74%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index was quoting 176 points, or 0.77%, lower at 22,619.65.

On the NIFTY50 index, 42 stocks were in the red and just eight were trading in positive territory.

The top losers were HCL Technologies, Trent Ltd, BEL, Wipro, and IndusInd Bank.

Stocks in news

Market Statistics

Out of 3,164 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,309 stocks were trading in the red, 726 in the green, while 129 shares remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of bears.

As many as 174 stocks hit their one-year low in the early trade, while 20 stocks touched their 52-week highs.

Further, 134 stocks hit their lower circuits while 87 hit their upper circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading around 4.5% higher at 15.18 levels.

Broader Market

The NIFTY MIDCAP 100 index was trading 1.60% lower at 49,680.60 levels, while the NIFTY SMALLCAP 100 index was quoting 1.68% lower at 15,374.75 points.

Sector Watch

Barring pharma and healthcare, all other sectoral indices were trading in the red.

The biggest loser was the NIFTY MIDSMALL IT & TELECOM index, down 2.84%. All the 20 constituents of the index were trading in negative territory.

The NIFTY PHARMA index, on the other hand, was trading at 0.42% higher at 20,470.35 levels.

Foreign investors have sold Indian equities worth ₹36,000 crore so far in February (as of February 21).

Most Asian markets were trading in negative territory on Monday; however, Chinese indices traded in the green in the morning trade.