The bears didn’t ready to give up their holdings easily, as they weighed on the benchmark for the seventh straight session on September 29, with the major indexes hitting two-month lows. However, about 44 stocks posted new all-time highs.

Market participants are likely to remain cautious ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled for September 30. Inflation and growth forecasts for FY23 remain unchanged, given that inflation is already 6% higher than the RBI and following the Fed’s path.

Inflation was 7% in August, well above the MPC’s mandate to keep inflation in the 2-6% range. At the close, the Nifty50 was down 40.5 points at 16,818.10, and the BSE Sensex was down 188.32 points at 56,409.96, its lowest level since July 27 and down more than 7% from its mid-September high.

Most key industries are under pressure, including information technology, banking, financial services, utilities, automotive, consumer durables and electricity.

However, BSE data showed more than 100 stocks at 52-week highs and 64 at 52-week lows, including 44 all-time highs on a weak day, mostly from sub-small caps.

Stocks hitting record highs include Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Bonlon Industries, Go Fashion (India), Karnavati Finance, Prudent Corporate Advisory Services, Shivalik Bimetal Controls, Softtech Engineers, Captain Pipes, Captain Technocast, EP Biocomposites, GM Polyplast, Growington Ventures India, Gujarat Hy -Spin and Knowledge Marine & Engineering Works.

Additionally, Modis Navnirman, Northern Spirits, Olatech Solutions, RMC Switchgears, Sungold Media and Entertainment, Sprayking Agro Equipment, ICL Organic Dairy Products, Advance Petrochemicals, Brand Concepts, Riddhi Corporate Services, Frontier Springs, Infronics Systems, Real Eco-Energy, Sampre Nutritions, Sanmit Infra, Sonal Mercantile and Sonal Adhesives also hit new highs.

Also, Star Housing Finance, Vinayak Polycon International, Alstone Textiles (India), Aris International, Golechha Global Finance, Oracle Credit, Perfectpac, POCL Enterprises, Pressure Sensitive Systems (India), Punit Commercials, Sobhagya Merchantile, Sarda Proteins and Synthiko Foils climbed reached an all-time high.

Continued selling by foreign institutional investors and aggressive sentiment from the Federal Reserve also created selling pressure. FIIs were net sellers in 12 out of 20 trading days in September, bringing total outflows for the month to over Rs 13,000 crore, compared with purchases of over Rs 22,000 crore in August.

Market volatility is widely expected in the coming weeks, and experts closely watch US economic data points.