Dalal St joins global selloff

Mumbai : Equity benchmark Sensex cracked over 1,000 points to dive below the 77,000 level on Monday, tracking heavy selling in global equities and a spike in international crude prices. A strong US jobs data erasing early rate cut expectations, the rupee logging its steepest single-day fall in nearly two years and unabated foreign fund outflows also dampened investors’ sentiment. Falling for the fourth straight session, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 1,048.90 points or 1.36 per cent to settle at 76,330.01. During the day, it plunged 1,129.19 points or 1.45 per cent to 76,249.72. The NSE Nifty dropped 345.55 points or 1.47 per cent to close at 23,085.95. As many as 3,562 stocks declined, while 555 advanced and 131 remained unchanged on the BSE. Also, 508 stocks hit their 52-week lows while 120 stocks reached the one-year high level.

“The global markets witnessed a significant sell-off, prompting a similar response in domestic markets due to strong US payroll data suggesting fewer rate cuts in 2025. This has strengthened the dollar, driven up bond yields, and made emerging markets less attractive. Recent GDP downgrades and slowing earnings amidst higher valuations are weighing heavily on market sentiment,”said Vinod Nair, Head (Research), Geojit Financial Services. The BSE midcap gauge dropped 4.17 per cent, and smallcap index tanked 4.14 per cent. All BSE sectoral indices ended lower.

“US imposing sanctions on Russian oil exports pushed the rupee to a fresh low against the dollar, which in turn triggered massive correction in domestic equity markets as overseas investors continued to desert the local share market,” added Prashanth Tapse, Senior V-P (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Zomato cracked nearly 7 per cent. Power Grid, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and UltraTech Cement were the other major laggards. In contrast, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy Services and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.

Realty slumped 6.59 per cent, utilities (4.38 per cent), services (4.35 per cent), power (4.23 per cent), industrials (4.09 per cent), consumer discretionary (4.04 per cent), consumer durables (3.96 per cent) and commodities (3.69 per cent).

Meanwhile, retail inflation slowed to a four-month low of 5.22 per cent in December against 5.48 pc in November, mainly due to easing of prices in food basket, according to government data released on Monday.