The S&P BSE Sensex fell 523 points to 71,072.49 at the closing bell, while the NSE Nifty50 settled 166.45 points lower at 21,616.05. Domestic-focused broader market indices took a bigger hit as concerns over high valuations soured the sentiment on Dalal Street.
Among sectoral indices, heavyweights Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services fell sharply, but Nifty PSU Bank registered the biggest drop, falling over 4.4 per cent. Nifty Realty and Nifty Oil & Gas also dipped nearly 3 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively.
The top five gainers on the Nifty50 were Dr. Reddy's, Apollo Hospitals, Divi's Laboratories, Wipro and HCLTech. On the other hand, the top losers were Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, BPCL, ONGC and Tata Steel.
Domestic markets have been facing weakness since last week, ever since the RBI decided to keep the key lending rates unchanged. While the decision was on expected lines, the fact that the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained its hawkish stance dashed hopes of a rate cut in the near future.
Mandar Bhojane, research analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Indian equity indices concluded lower on February 12, with the Nifty hovering around 21,600, as selling pressure affected various sectors except for IT and pharmaceutical companies." "On the daily chart, Nifty experienced a breakdown of the daily trendline and formed a bearish engulfing pattern with significant volume, indicating weakness in the index. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) exhibited a downward slope at 50.7, suggesting the persistence of bearish momentum. Immediate support levels are identified at 21,500-21,400, while hurdles are anticipated at 21,800 and 21,950," he added.
