Delhi, 14 October (H.S.): The domestic stock market closed in the red for the second consecutive session on Tuesday, erasing early gains as widespread selling pressure dragged the benchmark indices lower. Investor wealth took a significant hit, with market capitalization on the BSE shrinking by approximately ₹3.06 lakh crore.

Although the market opened on a positive note and extended its gains initially, it failed to sustain the momentum. A sudden wave of selling pushed the Sensex and Nifty into negative territory. The Sensex tumbled nearly 800 points from its intraday high, while the Nifty shed about 250 points from its peak. Despite a recovery attempt post-1:00 PM, the indices failed to claw back into the green, with the Sensex closing down 0.36% and the Nifty falling 0.32%.

The market weakness was broad-based. Heavy selling was witnessed in the realty, public sector enterprise, metal, and PSU bank sectors. The automobile, capital goods, consumer durables, FMCG, healthcare, IT, oil & gas, and tech indices also ended lower. Bucking the trend, capital market-related stocks saw some buying interest.

The broader market also felt the heat, with the BSE MidCap index falling 0.74% and the SmallCap index closing 0.95% lower.As a result of today's decline, the total market capitalization of all BSE-listed companies fell to ₹459.40 lakh crore (provisional) from ₹462.46 lakh crore on Monday, wiping out ₹3.06 lakh crore of investor wealth in a single day.

Market breadth was decidedly negative. Out of 4,334 stocks traded on the BSE, only 1,336 advanced, while 2,871 declined and 127 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 720 stocks closed with gains against 2,113 that ended in the red.

Index Performance

The BSE Sensex opened stronger at 82,404.54 and quickly rose to an intraday high of 82,573.37. However, it succumbed to selling pressure, falling to a low of 81,781.62. The index eventually managed a partial recovery to close at 82,029.98, down 297.07 points.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty started at 25,277.55 and hit a high of 25,310.35 before profit-booking dragged it to a low of 25,060.55. It finally settled at 25,145.50, marking a loss of 81.85 points.

Top Movers

Top Gainers: Max Healthcare (1.59%), Wipro (1.34%), Tech Mahindra (1.18%), Apollo Hospitals (1.15%), and Power Grid Corporation (0.47%).

Top Losers: Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (-1.99%), Bharat Electronics (-1.71%), Bajaj Finance (-1.70%), TCS (-1.56%), and Tata Motors (-1.14%).

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar