The domestic equity benchmarks ended near the day's low amid heavy sell off on Monday. The Nifty closed below the 17,400 mark. Barring the FMCG index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 524.96 points or 0.89% to 58,490.93. The Nifty 50 index lost 188.25 points or 1.07% to 17,396.90.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 16.24% to 17.71.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.79% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.84%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1036 shares rose and 2338 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.

Investors will continue to focus on the U.S. Federal Reserve's upcoming September meeting for clues on the central bank's tapering of its easy monetary policy. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference on Wednesday at the conclusion of the two-day meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Prospects of tighter U.S. monetary policy and the Delta variant-induced slowdown in global economic growth coupled with possible corporate tax hikes worried the investor community.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 22,85,41,752 with 46,91,866 deaths. India reported 3,18,181 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 4,45,133 deaths while 3,27,15,105 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index slumped 6.80% to 5,297.35, extending losses for third day. The index has declined 9.59% in three sessions.

Tata Steel (down 10%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 9.44%), National Aluminum Company (down 8.87%), SAIL (down 8.64%), NMDC (down 8.04%), Hindalco Industries (down 6.20%) and JSW Steel (down 7.59%) declined.

Further, Vedanta (down 5.36%), Adani Enterprises (down 3.98%), APL Apollo Tubes (down 3.27%), Hindustan Zinc (down 3%), MOIL (down 2.52%), Coal India (down 1.63%) and Ratnamani Metals Tubes (down 1.08%) edged lower.

On Friday, the GST Council chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave its nod for increasing the GST on ores and concentrates of metals such as iron, copper, aluminum, zinc and few others from 5 to 18%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC Bank fell 1.47% to Rs 1560. The bank and Paytm today (20 September 2021) announced plans for launching a comprehensive range of credit cards powered by VISA. Under the partnership, HDFC Bank and Paytm will introduce the business credit cards, offering a host of benefits for merchant partners from the smaller cities and towns of India. They will also introduce an entire range of consumer credit cards, offering cashbacks and benefits, including the mobile credit card targeted at digital-first millennials.

Kotak Mahindra Bank shed 0.19% to Rs 2002.15. The bank has agreed to subscribe to 1,67,25,100 equity shares in KFin Technologies for a consideration of approximately Rs 310 crore, translating into an equity shareholding of 9.98% as of yesterday (19 September 2021).

Rail Vikas Nigam rose 1.83% to Rs 30.65. The company said that it has received Rs 1,034.90 crore contract from Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation for Indore Metro Rail project.

Lupin fell 1.73% to Rs 934.30. The pharmaceutical company said that the U.S. FDA concluded an inspection at the company's Goa facility in India. The inspection was carried out from 6 September 2021 to 18 September 2021 and closed with seven observations.

Welspun Corp rose 1.15% to Rs 122.80. The company has received multiple orders of approximately 120 KMT valuing close to Rs 1,400 crore most of which will be executed from its facilities in India. This includes an export order for a deep offshore pipeline project (of approximately 59 KMT) in Gulf-of-Mexico, USA. With these orders, the company's order book stands at 492 KMT valued at approximately Rs 4,700 crore, after considering execution up to August 2021.

KEC International jumped 5.28% to Rs 441. The EPC company announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% equity in Spur Infrastructure for an enterprise value of Rs 62 crore, subject to customary adjustments.

Spur Infra is an Indian EPC company engaged in setting up of cross-country oil & gas pipelines and city gas distribution networks. KEC said the acquisition is to diversify into adjacent areas of growth. It will also enable KEC to capture lucrative growth opportunities in the oil & gas cross-country pipelines sector.

Larsen & Toubro shed 0.66% to Rs 1704.15. The company's wholly owned subsidiary, L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, won a 'significant' order from Petronet LNG. According L&T's classification, the value of the said contracts lies between Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore.

Sobha slumped 5.62% to Rs 699. The company announced that Subhash Mohan Bhat resigned for the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Key Managerial Personnel (KMP) as on Thursday, 16 September 2021.

HLE Glascoat surged 19.38% to Rs 6184.15. The company announced the signing of definitive agreements to acquire the global business of Thaletec GmbH, Germany as well as its subsidiary Thaletec USA, as a part of its strategy to strengthen its position further in the global markets with innovative technology.

IRB Infrastructure Developers rose 2.14% to Rs 174.60. IRB Sindhudurg Airport, a special purpose vehicle of IRB Infra, received aerodrome license for Sindhudurg Airport from the Director General of Civil Aviation on Saturday, 18 September 2021. The aerodrome license will enable IRB Infra to open the new aviation facility for airlines and general public.

Global Markets:

European stocks declined across the board on Monday as global markets contend with concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's tapering timetable.

Asian market was mixed on Monday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined over 3% as shares of shares of embattled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group continued their decline.

Concerns that China's second-largest property developer Evergrande could default on its debts is spilling over into China's financial markets and even risks contagion that could spread to markets beyond China.

Markets in mainland China, Japan and South Korea are closed on Monday for holidays.

US stocks dipped on Friday as investors remain cautious due to a resurgent COVID-19 virus and a historical tendency for September to be a weak month for equities.

The Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Friday rejected a plan to administer booster shots of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to the general public.

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