Sensex Falls 547.65 Points, Nifty Slips 157.10 Points Amid Foreign Investor Selling, Profit-Booking and Heavyweight Stock Sell-Off

New Delhi, October 12 (HS): The domestic stock market opened the week on a weak note on Monday, weighed down by sustained selling by foreign investors, profit-booking at higher levels and heavy selling in heavyweight stocks.

Under intense selling pressure, the BSE Sensex plunged more than 1,200 points from its intraday high, while the NSE Nifty dropped over 345 points from its peak. Both indices recovered some of their losses later, supported by buying at lower levels. However, the recovery proved insufficient to bring either benchmark back into positive territory. At the close of trading, the Sensex was down 0.76 per cent, while the Nifty declined 0.70 per cent. The sharp sell-off wiped out approximately Rs 14.73 lakh crore in investors’ wealth.

The BSE Sensex opened at 72,771.32, gaining 298.99 points, or 0.41 per cent. Supported by initial buying, the index climbed to an intraday high of 72,884.25, up 411.92 points, or 0.57 per cent. However, the gains proved short-lived. Selling pressure emerged soon after the opening, erasing the Sensex’s early advances and pushing it into negative territory.

As selling continued, the index fell to an intraday low of 71,676.10 shortly before the close, shedding 1,208.15 points from its day's high. At that level, the Sensex was down 796.23 points, or 1.10 per cent. Buying during the final phase of trading, as traders squared off their positions, helped the index recover 248.58 points from its intraday low. The Sensex eventually closed at 71,924.68, down 547.65 points, or 0.76 per cent.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty began the session at 22,593.20, gaining 72.75 points, or 0.32 per cent. Initial buying lifted the index to an intraday high of 22,651.10, a rise of 130.65 points, or 0.58 per cent. However, selling pressure subsequently intensified, wiping out its early gains and pushing it into the red.

With sellers maintaining the upper hand for most of the session, the Nifty dropped 346.65 points from its intraday high shortly before the close, touching a low of 22,304.45. At that point, the index was down 216 points, or 0.96 per cent. Buying during the final phase of trading helped it recover 58.90 points from the day's low. The Nifty ultimately settled at 22,363.35, down 157.10 points, or 0.70 per cent.

Sectoral Performance

Media stocks witnessed sustained buying throughout the session, helping the Nifty Media index gain more than 4 per cent. Capital goods stocks also remained in strong demand. In addition, the realty, automobile, healthcare and public sector enterprises indices ended the session in positive territory.

In contrast, IT stocks faced persistent selling pressure, dragging the BSE Tech index down by around 1 per cent. The Nifty IT index closed 0.79 per cent lower. Banking, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer durables, metals, and oil and gas indices also ended the session in the red.

The broader market, however, showed resilience, with buying interest in mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The Nifty Midcap index closed 0.08 per cent higher, while the Nifty Smallcap index advanced 1.42 per cent.

Investors’ Wealth Shrinks by Rs 14.73 Lakh Crore

The sharp decline in the stock market significantly eroded investors’ wealth. The total market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE fell to a provisional Rs 466.08 lakh crore at the end of Monday’s trading session, compared with Rs 480.81 lakh crore at the close of trading on Friday, the previous trading day.

The decline of Rs 14.73 lakh crore in the combined market capitalisation represents the estimated loss in investors’ wealth during Monday’s session.

Market Breadth and Trading Activity

A total of 4,736 stocks were actively traded on the BSE during the session. Of these, 2,291 closed higher, 2,164 declined and 281 remained unchanged.

On the NSE, 3,285 stocks were actively traded. Among them, 1,580 ended in positive territory, while 1,705 closed lower.

Of the 30 constituent stocks in the Sensex, seven advanced and 23 declined. Among the 50 stocks in the Nifty, 14 closed higher, while 36 ended the session in the red.

Top Gainers and Losers

Among the leading heavyweight stocks, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories emerged as the top gainer, rising 2.71 per cent. Bajaj Auto gained 2.62 per cent, followed by TMPV, which advanced 1.63 per cent. Bharat Electronics climbed 1.56 per cent, while BSE Ltd. rose 1.31 per cent. These five stocks were among the session’s top gainers.

On the losing side, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises declined 3.15 per cent, recording the steepest fall among the leading stocks. ITC dropped 3.05 per cent, Tech Mahindra fell 2.85 per cent, Larsen & Toubro lost 2.05 per cent, and Max Healthcare Institute declined 2.02 per cent. These stocks featured among the session’s top five losers.

The market ended the first trading session of the week on a distinctly negative note, with sustained selling in heavyweight stocks and foreign investor outflows weighing on the benchmark indices, even as selected media, capital goods and smaller-cap stocks managed to post gains.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar