Closing Bell: Market extends losses, Sensex falls by 456 points, Nifty slips below 18300.

Equity indices plunged into the red on October 21, 2021, in a highly volatile and profit-booking trading session.

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty50 gave up the initial gains in a volatile trading session on Wednesday. Losses witnessed in oil and gas, financial services, metals and consumer goods pulled the market lower. Broader markets were also volatile and slipped deep into the red. BSE Smallcap index closed at 28,878.73 recording losses of 2.31%.

At the closing bell on Wednesday, the Sensex closed down by 456.09 points or 0.74% at 61,259.96, and the Nifty ended lower by 152.20 points or 0.83% at 18,266.60. Today, 877 shares advanced, 2351 shares declined, and 115 shares were unchanged.

Among the top gainers today were, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra and ICICI Bank. While the top losers of the day were Titan Company, HUL, BPCL and Bajaj Finserv.

All the sectoral indices ended in red, with BSE midcap and smallcap losing 2% each.

According to market experts, investors are booking profits at every peak, adding volatility to the market. They also view that investors were awaiting corporate views during September-quarter earnings as higher commodity costs and raw material expenses are expected to hurt margins for companies even as they post profit increases. The market has given us many instances in the recent past where it has been a very promising buy on dips strategy that works.

Consumer giant Hindustan Unilever went down by almost 2.5% to Rs 2,484 after it warned that margins could remain under pressure in the near term due to elevated commodity prices.