New Delhi, 16 January (H.S.): After facing declines for two consecutive trading sessions, the domestic stock market closed higher on Friday, the final trading day of the week. Trading commenced on a strong note today. Following the market open, buyers dominated the first session, propelling both the Sensex and Nifty indices upward.

However, profit-taking began shortly before 11 a.m., leading to a downturn in both benchmarks. At the end of the day's trading, the Sensex settled 0.23% higher, while the Nifty ended 0.11% up.Throughout the session, consistent buying persisted in IT, PSU Bank, and Realty sector stocks. Similarly, the Oil & Gas and Tech indices closed firmly higher.

On the flip side, selling pressure mounted steadily in Metal, Pharmaceuticals, and Automobile sectors. Public Sector Enterprises, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, and FMCG indices also ended weaker.

Broader markets showed mixed trading: the BSE Midcap index closed 0.15% stronger, while the Smallcap index shed 0.45%.Despite the overall market gains, selling in smallcap stocks eroded investors' wealth by over ₹45,000 crore. The market capitalization of BSE-listed companies fell to ₹467.72 lakh crore (provisional) after Friday's session, down from ₹468.18 lakh crore on the previous trading day, Wednesday.This resulted in a net loss of approximately ₹46,000 crore for investors.

Active trading occurred in 4,394 BSE shares today, with 1,875 closing higher, 2,360 lower, and 159 unchanged. On the NSE, 2,908 shares saw action: 1,233 ended in the green, 1,675 in the red. Among Sensex's 30 constituents, 12 advanced and 18 declined; in the Nifty 50, 23 gained and 27 lost ground.

Sensex Movement

The BSE Sensex opened 288.08 points higher at 83,670.79. Initial trading saw mild fluctuations, but after the first half-hour, aggressive buying pushed it up 752.26 points to 84,134.97 within the next hour.Profit-taking ensued thereafter, injecting weakness into the index. The silver lining was that it remained in the green zone all day despite the sell-off.Ultimately, the Sensex slipped 564.62 points from its day's high to close 187.64 points up at 83,570.35.

Nifty Trajectory

Mirroring the Sensex, the NSE Nifty opened 30.45 points higher at 25,696.05. It traded with minor volatility in the first half-hour, followed by aggressive buying that propelled it 207.90 points to 25,873.50 in the next hour. This strength proved short-lived, as profit-taking triggered a decline.Sustained selling briefly pushed it into the red by 3.20 points to 25,662.40.

Supported by late-session buying ahead of intra-day settlement, the Nifty recovered over 30 points from its low to settle 28.75 points higher at 25,694.35.

Top Gainers and Losers

Post-session, heavyweight stocks like Infosys (+5.63%), Tech Mahindra (+5.16%), Wipro (+2.79%), HCL Technologies (+1.77%), and Tata Consumer Products (+1.51%) topped the gainers' list. Conversely, Eternal (-3.86%), Jio Financial (-2.86%), Cipla (-2.58%), Hindalco Industries (-2.17%), and Asian Paints (-2.03%) were the top five losers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar