Investors are Rs 10.6 lakh crore poorer in eight days as Sensex, Nifty50 continue to lag ahead of GDP data

Indian equity benchmarks closed lower for the eighth straight day on Tuesday as investors awaited an official quarterly Indian GDP reading later in the day. India’s GDP data is due at 5:30 p.m. Investors around the world were concerned about the prospect of higher interest rates in the longer term.

Both headline indices ended about half a percent lower, with the Sensex slipping 326.2 points to settle at 58,962.1 after circling the zero line in a nearly 700-point range in intraday trade. The Nifty50 shed 88.8 points, or 0.5 percent, to end at 17,304 after hovering largely within the 17,250 to 17,450 range during the session.

Investors have lost Rs 10.5 lakh crore in wealth since February 16, when the market capitalization of BSE-listed companies fell to Rs 257.8 lakh crore, according to preliminary stock market data.

33 stocks in the Nifty50 basket closed lower, with Cipla, Hindalco, Dr. Reddy’s, ONGC, Reliance, JSW Steel and Tata Steel – which were down about 2-5 percent on the day – were the biggest laggards.

Adani Enterprises was the top gainer in the blue chip space, up 14.9 percent for the day. Adani Ports, Asian Paints, Britannia, Mahindra & Mahindra, PowerGrid and UltraTech were also among the stocks that rose the most among the 17 winners in the 50 scrip universe.

Reliance, Infosys, ITC and Axis Bank were the main detractors on the 30-stock index.

Nifty Bank was down at the close amid losses in Axis Bank and SBI (down 1%), although gains in stocks like HDFC Bank (up 0.6%) kept the downside in check.

Here’s how Nifty Bank has moved over the past few days:

Much of pharmaceutical stocks suffered selling pressure after the NPPA fixed the retail prices of 74 formulations. Cipla, Dr. Reddy’s, Divi’s and Sun Pharma fell between 0.7 percent and 4.7 percent for the day.

Overall market breadth was neutral at 1,727 Stocks were up and 1,725 ​​down on BSE at the close.

Analysts will follow automakers’ monthly sales reports starting Wednesday to keep track of direction.

Global Markets

European markets started the day lower after data showed persistent inflation in France and Spain, with the pan-continental Stoxx 600 index last falling 0.4 percent after seeing mixed movements in Asia. Dow Jones futures were up 0.1 percent, signaling a mildly positive start on Wall Street.

Check out the stocks to buy this week and the stocks to buy in the March series

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