Markets closed lower; Banking stocks underperform

7 Mar 2022 , 03:30 PM

Markets witnessed a sharp selloff during the major part of the trade as across the board short selling weighed in. Bank Nifty underperformed the Nifty index by ~2% with both the indices closing with deep cuts.

Across the board selling was seen in major financial heavyweights with stocks like Axis Bank, ICICI Bank & SBI contributing majority of the loses for the index, along with an addition of heavy short positions. Nifty Midcap 100 index closed ~2.3% lower.

Market breadth ended in the favour of the declines with the advance/decline ratio closing at 1:12x. Bank Nifty saw an addition of short positions during the day.

On the options front (March 31, 2021 expiry), across the board writing was seen in the put option strikes as the Bank Nifty index trended higher. India Vix index closed at 29.1, up ~4%.

Top 2 F&O Gainers:	ONGC & ZEEL
Top 2 F&O Losers:	INDIA MART & GCPL
Nifty	-366 @15,879
Bank Nifty	-1498 @32,910