Benchmark stock market indices opened lower on Monday, dragged down by a decline in financial services and banking stocks.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 222.63 points to 76,987.27 at 10 am, while the NSE Nifty50 dipped 76 points to 23,425.1.
Most of the broader market indices, including small and midcaps, fell in early trade after The Economic Times reported that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) was investigating allegations of “front-running” at Quant Mutual Fund.
It may be noted that most of the Nifty sectoral indices also fell in early trade as volatility spiked.
The top five gainers on the Nifty50 were Sun Pharma, Power Grid, M&M, TCS and ICICI Bank.
On the other hand, the top losers were IndusInd Bank, Cipla, Tata Steel, Adani Ports and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Among individual stocks, Delta Corp tanked over 7% in early trade after the GST Council Meeting skipped discussing a review of taxes on online gaming companies.
Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, “The consolidation phase in the market is likely to continue. The near-term strength in the market is likely to come from Bank Nifty assisted by institutional buying notably from FIIs who have turned buyers last week. However, Sebi investigation in the Quant Mutual Fund is a slight sentiment negative for the market.”
Vijayakumar also highlighted that the market is experiencing a sectoral shift, with profit booking occurring in overvalued sectors and capital moving into fairly valued large-cap stocks.
“There is a likelihood of the rupee turning stable with a positive upward bias in the near term on expectations of big debt inflows after the inclusion of India in the Global Bond EM Index later this month. This can act as a trigger for more FII inflows into equity, going forward,” he added.
