New Delhi: The Indian equity indices fell for the fourth straight day on Monday, weighed down by metal and pharmaceutical sectors. As the impasse between Russia and Ukraine continued to depress risk sentiment, investors became warier. The benchmark BSE Sensex down 149 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 57,684 points, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 70 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 17,207 points. Throughout the session, both indices fluctuated between gains and losses before settling in the red.
Mid- and small-cap stocks ended the day in the red, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index down 1.24 per cent and small-cap stocks falling 2.73 per cent.
The National Stock Exchange's 15 sector gauges ended the day in the red, with 12 of them. Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma, which fell 2.07% and 1.35 per cent, respectively, lagged the index.
On a stock-by-stock basis, Hindalco was the highest Nifty loss, falling 3.38 per cent to ₹511.70. Among the laggards were UPL, Divi's Lab, Adani Ports, and Sun Pharma.
Tata Consultancy Services also fell 1.96 per cent ahead of a share buyback for Rs 18,000 crore.
Wipro, Infosys, Shree Cement, PowerGrid, and HDFC Bank, on the other hand, were among the gainers.
On the BSE, the overall market breadth was modest, with 709 shares rising and 2,776 falling.
Sun Pharma, TCS, ITC, L&T, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Titan, Reliance Industries, and Tata Steel suffered the greatest losses on the 30-share BSE platform, with their shares falling as high as 2.15 per cent.
Since last week, both domestic bourses have seen erratic trading, drawing cues from foreign markets.
Hem Securities' Head of PMS, Mohit Nigam, stated, "On the technical front immediate support and resistance level for Nifty 50 are 17,050 and 17,400 respectively. The key resistance level for Nifty Bank is 38,100 and on the downside 37,100 can act as strong support."