Market Wrap, May 22: NIFTY50 recovers from day's low, holds 24,600 level, SENSEX loses 645 points; IT stocks drag

The Indian stock market closed negative on Thursday, May 22, amid losses in the IT, FMCG and oil sectors following the global cues.

During the intraday period, NIFTY50 and Sensex had touched a low of 24,462.40 and 80,489.92 levels, but it recovered from its day’s low at the end.

The broader market also ended lower on Thursday, and among sectors, except for NIFTY Media, all the other gauges closed in red. IT, FMCG and oil and gas fell the most among sectors.

Shares of IT services companies were lower following a dip in the US stocks as investors were worried about a possible widening of the US federal deficit.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,201.79 crore on a net basis, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased ₹ 683.77 crore worth of equities.

On the global front, the US markets closed with sharp losses on Wednesday as investors got cautious on rising treasury yields. Participants were concerned that the yield might swell if Congress passes President Donald Trump's proposed tax-cut bill.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 816.80 points, or 1.91%, to 41,860.44 levels, the S&P 500 slipped 95.85 points, or 1.61%, to 5,844.61 levels and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 270.07 points, or 1.41%, to 18,872.64 levels.

Following the US markets, stocks in Asia closed with losses on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.85% lower at the 36,985.87 level, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.2% to the 23,544.31 level, and the Shanghai Composite settled at 3,380.19, declining 0.22%.

South Korea's KOSPI tumbled 1.23% to close at the 2,593.67 level.

As many as 2,949 stocks traded on the NSE on Thursday. Out of this, 1,275 advanced, and 1,582 stocks declined, while 92 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicates that market breadth was majorly in favour of negative.

A total of 45 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 17 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 84 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 53 touched their lower circuit bands on Thursday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹436.62 lakh crore at the end of the session.

The volatility index India VIX declined 1.65% to 17.26 levels.

The broader market also declined, with the NIFTY Midcap 100 index falling 0.52% to close at 56,324.85 levels, while the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index settled at 17,503.10 levels, down 0.26%.

Among losers, ONGC took the lead, falling 2.65%. Mahindra & Mahindra (-2.42%), Hindalco Industries (-2.03%), Wipro (-1.94%) and Trent (-1.79%) were the other most falling stocks on the index.

Meanwhile, IndusInd Bank (1.76%) leads the winners' pack, followed by JSW Steel (0.71%), Bajaj Auto (0.65%), Bharti Airtel (0.47%) and Hero MotoCorp (0.19%).

Except for Nifty Media (1.11%), all the other sectors ended negative. Nifty FMGC (-1.44%) was the top loser, followed by Nifty IT (-1.31%), Nifty Oil and Gas (-1.17%), Nifty Consumer Durables (-1.14%) and Nifty Auto (-1.01%).