New Delhi, July 9 (H.S.): The domestic stock market closed lower today after experiencing fluctuations throughout the trading session. It began weakly, saw some buying after 10 AM, but eventually succumbed to selling pressure after 2 PM, with the Sensex ending down by 0.21 percent and the Nifty down by 0.18 percent. Persistent selling was observed across infrastructure, public sector, and IT shares, with declines in banking, capital goods, pharmaceuticals, metals, oil and gas, and tech sectors. In contrast, strong buying was noted in FMCG and consumer durables. The broader market remained mixed, with the BSE midcap index down by 0.05 percent and the small-cap index up by 0.45 percent.

Investors lost approximately four thousand crores due to today's market weakness, leading the BSE's market capitalization to drop to 461.34 lakh crores from 461.38 lakh crores the previous day. Out of 4,142 actively traded shares on the BSE, 2,075 gained, while 1,933 faced losses, and 134 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 2,651 shares were traded, with 1,295 in profit and 1,356 showing declines. In the Sensex, 13 shares closed higher and 17 lower, while the Nifty saw 22 gainers and 28 losers.

The BSE Sensex opened at 83,625.89, declining by 86.62 points. It briefly rose to 83,781.36 after some buying but fell again to 83,382.28 due to selling, eventually closing at 83,536.08. The Nifty also faced a similar pattern, starting at 25,514.60 and closing at 25,476.10. Among major stocks, Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, Coal India, and Ultratech Cement were today's top gainers, while HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, Apollo Hospital, and Tech Mahindra were the biggest losers.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar