The weekly options expiry turned out to be a forgettable one for the Nifty 50 as the index extended its declines for the third day in a row.

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The Nifty 50 dropped over 159 points and closed at 19,742. This is the lowest close for the Nifty 50 since September 7.

While the BSE Sensex fell 571 points to 66,230. With this, the investors have lost nearly Rs 6 lakh crore over the last three days.

The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 317 lakh crore, compared to Rs 323 lakh crore as of closing last Friday.

Banks were the biggest contributors to the Nifty 50's fall. The top three point contributors to Thursday's decline on the Nifty 50 were banking stocks.

ICICI Bank led the fall with its worst single-day drop since January 27.

The banking heavyweight contributed to nearly a quarter of the Nifty 50's fall and half of the Nifty Bank's fall on Thursday. The stock also lost nearly Rs 20,000 crore in market capitalisation on Thursday.

Barring Bandhan Bank, all constituents of the Nifty Bank ended the trading day with losses.

PSU Banks also witnessed a sharp correction from the day's highs on Thursday. Barring Bank of India, all constituents of the PSU Bank index also ended with losses.

"In the short-term markets are looking a bit oversold, so from hereon or in the short-term the risk-reward is not much favourable if some one shorts from hereon. So I would rather say that one can buy right now on Nifty at 19,730 approximately, one can add as well if at all it dips towards the levels of Rs 19,700-19,650. I think 19,600-19,650 range is a very crucial support for Nifty in the short-term and on the upside it can again bounce back to the levels of Rs 19,900-19,950," Jay Thakkar of Sharekhan told CNBC-TV18.

Nearly 80 out of the 100 Midcap stocks and 85 out of the 100 Smallcap stocks ended with losses.

Stock movements

Top stocks on the Nifty 50 were Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy Laboratories, Asian Paints and Bharti Airtel. The top losers included Mahindra and Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Cipla, SBI and Induslnd Bank.

Financial giants like ICICI, HDFC Bank, M&M, SBI, Reliance Industries (RIL), and ITC played a significant role in dragging down the Nifty the most, as concerns regarding margin and other economic factors weighed heavily on investor sentiment.

However, some respite was offered by tech giants like Infosys, Bharti, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Tech Mahindra, which helped support the Nifty amid the overall bearish trend.

In the automotive sector, profit booking was evident ahead of the monthly sales numbers, leading to a dip in auto stocks.

Banks faced particular challenges due to concerns related to margins, with ICICI Bank taking the lead among the major losers. Meanwhile, public sector banks also experienced a fall in line with the broader banking sector, with the State Bank of India (SBI) slipping back below the 600-mark.

The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) saw a rise in its stock price following the company's announcement of plans to go live on a new platform by the end of the month.

Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) followed suit with banks, facing a decline, and Indiabulls Housing Finance emerged as the top loser in this category.

Balrampur Chini, a major player in the sugar industry, came under pressure following reports of potential restrictions on sugar exports.

Apollo Tyres experienced a 3 percent drop as production at the company's Gujarat unit was halted.

In the diagnostic sector, companies failed to capitalize on recent gains, with Metropolis down 3 percent.

Amid the market's mixed performance, Happiest Minds managed to recover and close higher after the company denied cutting its growth guidance, offering a glimmer of hope to investors.

Oil marketing companies, in contrast, saw an uptick in their stock prices, tracking the fall in crude oil prices, with stocks rising by 1-3 percent.

First Published:Sept 21, 2023 3:36 PM IST