Sensex Plunges below 66K Mark

The BSE Sensex on Friday plunged below the psychologically important 66,000 points mark.

It was trading down 301 points at 65,965 due to sustained selling pressure.

Bajaj Finserv and Tata Motors are down more than 2 per cent, while TCS, Titan, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank and Maruti were down more than 1 per cent.

The headwinds for the markets come from the US 10-year yield rising sharply to 4 per cent, the dollar index rising to 101.7, Brent crude rising above $83 and FPIs selling stocks for Rs 3979 crores in the cash market on Thursday, says V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The market is delicately poised with strong headwinds and some tailwinds, he said.

While these strong headwinds can impact the market, support can come from the strong US 2nd quarter GDP number of 2.4 per cent.

Since the ongoing global rally,led by the mother market US, is primarily driven by the US soft landing narrative, this data can provide some support when the market turns weak.

Investors have to be careful chasing small-caps which are in overvalued territory. Large-caps, even when richly valued, are safe unlike risky small-caps, he added.

Pharma is staging a comeback and there is value-buying happening in beaten down metal stocks, he said.