Why did the Sensex lose nearly 200 points on Monday 27 July?

The fall was not really sharp at 195 points on the Sensex but what mattered was the sharp fall in the banking stocks. Most banking stocks took a hit after the RIB Financial Stability Report or FSR projected gross NPAs of the banking system to escalate from 8.5% in Mar-20 to 12.5% in Mar-21. That led to the sharp fall in the Bank Nifty by over 800 points.

In terms of individual stocks, HDFC Bank ended 3.5% weaker after Aditya Puri sold off nearly 95% of his holdings for Rs.843 crore. ICICI Bank also lost over 6% after the concerns over moratorium lifting in August began to haunt the banks. Asian Paints was the rare stock other than technology stocks that showed good traction on Monday.

In sectoral terms, Nifty Bank fell by 813 points or a whopping 3.6% while the Nifty IT gained nearly 2%. Global cues were also not too good. European shares slipped with travel stocks leading the declines after Britain imposed quarantine on returning travellers. Gold soared to its all-time peak of $1943/oz as tensions rose in the global market.