FINAL TRADE: Financials lead losses on D-Street; Nifty gives up 21,800; Sensex sheds 354 pts

Stock market today: Domestic blue-chip shares were subdued on Monday, February 5, as a drag in financial stocks offset gains in Tata Motors and oil-related stocks. Witnessing a sharp fall during the final hours, the NSE Nifty 50 index slid 0.38 per cent, or 82.1 points, to end at 21,771.7, while the S&P BSE Sensex edged down 0.49 per cent, or 354.21 points, to settle at 71,731.42. The high-beta Nifty Bank index, whose 12 constituents include SBI, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank, finished the day 145.4 points, or 0.32 per cent, weaker at 45,825.55.

"The Indian market witnessed a sharp fall during the final hours of today's trading. The robust US job data for January indicates that the expected rate cuts from the Fed in the coming year may be less imminent," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

"This is reflected in the recent sharp climb in US bond yields to above 4 per cent levels, which prompted investors to book profit from the post-interim budget rally amidst elevated valuations. However, the current drop in crude prices provides support and restrains the decline," Nair added.

UPL, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Life, and Grasim were among the top losers in the Nifty basket, down around 11–3 per cent. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Coal India, BPCL, Sun Pharma, and Cipla were among the top gainers, trading with gains of around 6-3 per cent.

While the Nifty MidCap 100 settled in red, down 0.14 per cent, Nifty SmallCap 100 closed 0.26 per cent higher.

Meanwhile, agriculture chemicals maker UPL tumbled and settled 10.92 per cent lower on weak quarterly results. One 97 Communications slumped further after a regulatory crackdown, dropping 10 per cent.

Global Market

European shares edged higher at open on Monday as more upbeat earnings reports rolled in, although broader sentiment remained subdued as investors reassessed their interest rate cut expectations.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index, was up 0.2 per cent, as of 0835 GMT. Delivery Hero gained 2.8 per cent after the German online takeaway food company posted an above-guidance core profit for 2023, driven by healthy order growth.

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