Domestic frontline indices Sensex and Nifty trimmed earlier losses but continued to trade in the red on April 19 amid a broad-based selloff. Investors traded on the sidelines after Israel's attack on Iran fuelled uncertainty across the market. As a result, fear gauge India VIX jumped over 4 percent.

Around noon, the Sensex was down 244.94 points or 0.34 percent at 72,244.05, and the Nifty was down 80.10 points or 0.36 percent at 21,915.70. The market breadth was weighed towards losers as around 1,137 shares advanced, 2,014 declined, and 85 stayed unchanged.

Broader indices underperformed the benchmarks by noon on April 19, with the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap gaining up to 0.9 percent each.

Sectoral trend

Barring Nifty FMCG which saw slim gains, all sectors nosedived in a sea of red by mid-day on April 19. Nifty IT, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Realty indices were hit hardest, each trading over 1 percent down.

Fundamental View

VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, explained that the reports of feared escalation of the Iran-Israel tensions spooked markets. Moreover, distinct weakness in Asian markets and sharp cuts in US futures reflect heightened nervousness in equity markets.

Going ahead, he believes that more FII selling can be expected in the near term putting pressure on largecaps. "Investors may wait for clarity to emerge on the geopolitical front. Uncertainty is very high," he suggested.

Technical view

Sameet Chavan, Head Research, Technical and Derivative - Angel One said that Nifty plunged below its 50 DEMA with a strong bearish candle formation, depicting an inherent weakness in the markets.

"The previous closure around 21,800 is likely to be seen as the pitstop for the bears, and if bulls could not barge on there, then we may test the 100 DEMA placed around 21,600 on an immediate basis. On the flipside, a series of resistance could be seen from 22,150-22,200, followed by the 20 DEMA at 22300 zone," he added.

TOP NIFTY GAINERS

GRASIM INDUSTRIES, TATA CONSUMER, APOLLO HOSPITALS

Top Nifty losers

Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Tata Motors

Key Sensex leaders

M&M, ITC, HDFC Bank

Key Sensex laggards

Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Nestle India

Stock moves

Bajaj Auto: The two-wheeler giant delivered a robust all-round financial performance for Q4, beating Street estimates, but the shares fell as much as 2.5 percent to Rs 8,795 on 19 April amid concerns that the stock price has already run way ahead of brokerage target prices and that the valuations are expensive.

Man Industries: The stock gained around three percent in early trade on April 19, after the firm received approval from Shell Global for external, internal, and concrete coating of steel pipelines at Anjar, Gujarat.