Markets closed lower; Banking stocks underperformed

Domestic markets traded with a negative bias during the closing part of the trade as a sharp selloff was witnessed in the financial stocks. Bank Nifty index underperformed the Nifty index by ~1.25%, with both the indices closing the day in the red.

Financial heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI led the decline in the banking index while Nifty Pharma index continued to outperformance today and ended higher for the fourth consecutive trading session at its lifetime highs. The Nifty Midcap index closed ~0.25% lower.

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The market breadth ended in the favour of the declines with the advance/decline closing at 3:4x. India Vix index closed at 20, down 1%. Bank Nifty added fresh short positions.

On the options front (September 24, 2020 expiry), across the board writing was witnessed in the call option strikes as the Nifty & Bank index trended lower.