New Delhi, 18 December (H.S.):

Extending their downward trend for the fourth consecutive session, Indian equity markets closed lower on Thursday, as volatility dominated trading throughout the day. Despite intermittent bouts of buying, persistent selling pressure prevented any meaningful recovery, leaving both the Sensex and Nifty marginally lower by the close of trade.

The Sensex slipped 0.09%, while the Nifty eased 0.01%, reflecting a market weighed down by profit booking and weak investor sentiment. Early trade began on a negative note, followed by multiple attempts at recovery as buyers tried to regain control.

However, selling at higher levels kept indices fluctuating in a narrow range throughout the session.

Sector-wise, capital goods, metals, and realty stocks witnessed moderate buying interest, helping limit the market’s overall downside. Similarly, consumer durables and technology indices ended with gains.

On the other hand, automobile, public sector enterprises, energy, oil & gas, healthcare, FMCG, capital goods, and banking sectors closed lower, indicating a mixed performance across market segments.Within the broader market, midcaps displayed resilience, with the BSE Midcap Index rising 0.05%, while smallcaps underperformed, slipping 0.28%.

Continuing the recent slide, the decline wiped out nearly ₹79,000 crore in investor wealth. The combined market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies fell to ₹465.39 lakh crore (provisional) from ₹466.18 lakh crore recorded in the previous session.

Trading remained broad-based, with 4,332 shares active on the BSE during the session. Out of these, 1,631 stocks advanced, 2,506 declined, and 195 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 2,812 stocks saw active trade, of which 1,042 closed in the green and 1,770 finished in the red, indicating an overall negative market breadth.

Among benchmark components, 13 of the 30 Sensex stocks ended higher, while 17 declined. Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 displayed an even split, with 25 gainers and 25 losers.Index MovementsThe BSE Sensex opened slightly weaker at 84,518.33, down 41.32 points.

During the session, the index oscillated sharply between an intraday high of 84,780.19 (up 220.54 points) and a low of 84,238.43 (down 321.22 points). Ultimately, it settled 77.84 points lower at 84,481.81.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty 50 began at 25,764.70, losing 53.85 points at the open. Early volatility saw it slide to 25,726.30, down 92.25 points, before rebounding sharply to an intraday high of 25,902.35 — a recovery of over 175 points.

However, late-session profit booking erased much of the gains, with the Nifty closing almost unchanged, down 3 points, at 25,815.55.

Among the day’s major gainers on the BSE and NSE combined, InterGlobe Aviation surged 2.71%, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) at +1.96%, Max Healthcare at +1.69%, Tech Mahindra at +1.66%, and Infosys at +1.55%.On the losing side, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries dropped 2.62%, Tata Steel lost 1.30%, Power Grid Corporation fell 1.21%, Asian Paints shed 0.93%, and UltraTech Cement declined 0.68%, rounding off the day’s top five losers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar