Bears score a century! 120 stocks on BSE 500 clock double-digit weekly losses

The sell-off in domestic equities saw as many as 120 stocks that are part of the BSE 500 index register double-digit losses in the week gone by.

The euphoria around a Santa rally on Dalal Street fizzled out as bears planned a surprise party for themselves.

The sell-off was triggered by the concerns resurfacing around pandemic as China has seen a sharp spike in Covid cases, and so have some of the neighbouring countries.

The risk-off mood saw benchmark indices register their worst weekly losses in a year. Both Sensex and Nifty 50 shed more than 2% in the week.

Breaching all major support levels, Nifty 50 ended 1.8% lower on Friday at 17,806.80 points. The Sensex closed 1.6% down at 59,845.29 points. The BSE 500 index dropped 2.5% to 23,955.55 points.

In the week gone by, 25 stocks hit fresh 52-week lows, including FSN E-Commerce, , , , , , , and among others.

Public sector banks that became the darlings of the Street in 2022 were the first to be knocked down by the bears. Of the 10 worst hit stocks on BSE 500, five were public sector banks.

The other big loser was from the Adani Group stable. Shares of

: Shares of the company have fallen over 22% last week, which has eroded nearly half of returns since listing.

Among the other big laggards were

that lost 18% for the week, as a spike in Covid cases in China and the safety guidelines issued by the Government of India to prevent a 4th wave kind of a situation in India raised concerns over a hit to travel.

Is recovery on cards?

The sharp fall last week has turned the short-term trend negative for markets. Analysts are sceptical and recommend trading cautiously.

“The markets are a function of perception and it is not fundamentals that drive the market. It is difficult for some people to fathom this and it will be that way for a long time to come,” Jai Bala, chief market technician at Cashthechaos.com told ET Now.

Bala is of the belief that the correction that started in October 2021 is not complete even though markets hit fresh record highs recently. “It is still part of a continuing correction that started from October 2021 and it will probably end only below the June lows.”

(Data inputs from Ritesh Presswala)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)