Closing Bell: Market fall continues, Nifty holds 16300

Domestic equity bourses Sensex and Nifty slumped to their lowest levels in two months dragged by selling across sectors, with oil & gas, financial, consumer and metal stocks being the biggest drags.

Indian equity market extended its fall for the second straight session on Monday amid weak global cues. Aggressive interest rate hikes from central banks, a city-wide Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai and the continuous Russia-Ukraine war jolted global investor sentiment.

Owing to these developments, benchmark indices ended lower in the volatile session with Nifty barely holding the 16300 level.

At the closing bell on May 9, the Sensex was down 364.91 points or 0.67% at 54470.67, and the Nifty was down 109.40 points or 0.67% at 16301.90. On the market breadth, around 1036 shares have advanced, 2353 shares declined, and 140 shares are unchanged.

Top Nifty losers of the day were Reliance Industries, Hero MotoCorp, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank and Tata Steel, while top gainers include Power Grid Corporation, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Auto, Infosys and Divis Labs. In the top laggards, Reliance Industries was the biggest loser as the stock lost 4.30% to Rs 2,508.

On a sectoral basis, oil & gas, metal, FMCG, power, realty and PSU Bank indices fell 1-2% each. In the broader markets, BSE midcap and smallcap indices shed nearly 2% each.

In the trending news, state-insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC's) initial share sale was oversubscribed 2.88 times on the final day of bidding. In global markets, European stocks also hit a two-month low dragged by mining stocks as investors digested the sharp economic slowdown in China due to prolonged coronavirus curbs. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was lower by 1.4% in early trade.