Indian stock markets end lower on Monday amid weak global cues

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 24 : The Indian stock markets on Monday ended on a lower note, influenced by weak global cues that kept the benchmarks under pressure during the trading session.
At the close of the market, the Sensex was down 856.65 points or 1.14 per cent, at 74,454.41, and the Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was down 242.55 points or 1.06 per cent, at 22,553.35.
At NSE, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Infosys, TCS, and Tata Steel were the biggest losers. On the other hand, the stocks of M&M, Eicher Motors, Dr Reddy's Labs, Hero MotoCorp and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the gainers.
In today's trading session, except for auto, pharma, and FMCG, all other sectoral indices ended in the red territory. The sectoral indices of IT, metal, and telecom were down about 2 per cent.
In terms of sectors, 10 out of 13 major sectoral indices traded lower in today's session.
The volatility index, India VIX, cooled off by 0.60 per cent to 14.44, indicating a decline in market volatility.
"The D-street indices experienced a sharp drop to an eight-month low as market sentiment remained subdued. The decline was primarily driven by significant losses in heavyweight stocks, especially within the IT sector. This weakness followed reports of declining consumer confidence in the US, casting a shadow over the country's growth outlook," said Ameya Ranadive, Chartered Market Technician, CFTe, Sr Technical Analyst, StoxBox.
"Today's decline in the Nifty was accompanied by lower trading volume compared to the previous session," he added.
"Technically, on the daily chart, Nifty has formed a red candle, indicating weakness. Furthermore, the index breached the 22,700 support level and closed below it. Thus, on the upside, 22,700-22,800 will serve as a solid resistance zone. On the downside, the index will find initial support at 22,500, followed by the 22,050 level, where the 100-weekly Exponential Moving Average is positioned, said Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP Technical and Derivatives Research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Ltd.
In today's session, the Bank Nifty opened with a gap down, witnessed selling pressure, and concluded the session lower at 48,652.
"On the downside, bank nifty will find strong support around 47,840, while on the upside, 49,650 will remain a challenging barrier for the index," Yedve said.
The market witnessed significant selling pressure in the small-cap and microcap segments, while the IT and metal sectors experienced the largest declines.