Sensex tumbles 984 pts, Bank Nifty falls over 2.5% as bears roar back into action; here’s what analysts say

BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 tanked nearly 2 per cent, each, on a freaking Friday as bears made a comeback. Investors sentiment were hit due to weakness in Asian markets and amid fears of more localised lockdown restrictions on the back of rising COVID-19 cases. Investors were also seen cautious ahead of the exit polls of four states and one Union Territory. Sensex tumbled 984 points or 2 per cent down at 48,782, while the broader Nifty 50 index plunged 264 points or 1.77 per cent to 14,631. Index heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) contributed the most to indices loss. In the broader markets, S&P BSE MidCap index fell 0.65 per cent or 133 points to 20,312. While S&P BSE SmallCap index fell to 21,670 levels

Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

The support of 14400 still holds and the markets have the potential to turn from here and head towards 15100. The risk reward ratio is now skewed in favor of the reward and hence a buy on dips approach will be most appropriate to adopt.

Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

Index opened a day with a gap down & traded whole day with negative bias and closed day at 14631 with loss of nearly two per cent forming a bearish candle on the daily chart. On the downside index has good support at 14580-14500 zone if managed to save said levels then some bounce possible otherwise we may see the next leg of a move towards 14200 zone on the downside, resistance is placed at 14730-14810 zone we may see profit booking again around these levels.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

Heavy selling in key pivotal including Financials & HDFC twins kept indices in the red throughout the day as fears of localised lockdowns manifesting itself into a slowdown made investors cautious ahead of the state poll outcomes. Pharma & Sugar stocks bucked the trend in today’s trade.

Mohit Nigam, Head, PMS, Hem Securities

Nifty closed 1.85% down after a positive start in the morning. Banking and financials which led the rally this week were the laggards today witnessing profit booking, Nifty Bank ended down by 2.94%. .The exit polls of four states and one union territory showed BJP not gaining a sound majority in fiercely fought state of West Bengal denting the sentiment of the markets. Reliance Industries numbers today will set the tone for the next week’s opening along with developments on the covid front. Closing below 14650 is slightly negative for the markets.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

The market turned into a correction phase following weakness in the Asian market despite hopeful signs from Wall Street. Rising covid cases and uncertainties surrounding vaccination added more pressure on the market. Along with small-cap stocks, pharma, metal, and oil & gas were the sectoral gainers while profit booking was seen in banking stocks.