New Delhi, May 28 (H.S.): The domestic stock market experienced a decline for the second consecutive day, closing lower on Wednesday. Trading began with a mixed opening at flat levels, where initial buying support momentarily lifted both the Sensex and Nifty indices. However, selling pressure soon drove both benchmarks into negative territory. Ultimately, the Sensex dropped by 0.29 percent, while the Nifty fell by 0.30 percent.

During the trading session, shares in defense and public sector banks saw continuous buying, along with capital goods, oil and gas, public sector enterprises, and tech sectors, which managed to close with gains. In contrast, the FMCG, metal, and pharmaceutical sectors faced persistent selling pressure, while indices for IT, automobiles, and consumer durables also closed lower. The broader market exhibited mixed trends, with the BSE mid-cap index declining by 0.22 percent. However, the small-cap index rose by 0.50 percent, marking its fourth consecutive day of gains.

Despite the overall weakness in the stock market, significant buying in small-cap stocks led to an increase of about 4 thousand crore rupees in the wealth of investors, raising the market capitalization of companies listed on the BSE to 444.69 lakh crore rupees, an increase from 443.65 lakh crore rupees the previous day. In total, 4,095 shares were traded on the BSE, with 2,015 gaining and 1,919 losing value, while 161 remained unchanged. On the NSE, of 2,572 active shares, 1,290 gained and 1,282 fell.

The Sensex opened at 81,457.61 points, initially rising to 81,613.36 points but faced selling pressure throughout the day, finally closing at 81,312.32 points, down by 239.31 points. Meanwhile, the Nifty began at 24,832.50 points, briefly climbing to 24,864.25 points before declining significantly, ultimately closing at 24,752.45 points, down by 73.75 points.

Among notable movements, HDFC Life, Bharat Electronics, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, and Hero Motocorp were today's top gainers. Conversely, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Apollo Hospital, and UltraTech Cement ranked as the top losers.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar