New Delhi, 23 April (H.S.): The domestic stock market ended lower for a second consecutive session, driven by ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia, weak global cues, and a sharp rise in crude‑oil prices. The benchmark BSE Sensex closed down 1.09 per cent, while the Nifty 50 settled 0.84 per cent lower, snapping a brief recovery that had briefly lifted both indices earlier in the day.

Trading began on a weak note, with both the Sensex and Nifty slipping into the red soon after the opening bell. A brief spell of buying in the morning saw investors recover some of the initial losses, but profit‑booking and renewed selling pressure gradually pushed the benchmarks into deeper negative territory.

By late afternoon, the indices were trading near their intraday lows before a modest recovery at the close, leaving the Sensex down about 852 points and the Nifty around 205 points lower on the day.

Heavy‑weight sectors such as automobiles, public‑sector banks, consumer durables, IT, FMCG, metals, oil & gas, public‑sector enterprises and the broader “tech” index all ended in the red, reflecting broad‑based selling across the market. In contrast, the media and energy segments saw sustained buying interest, with the capital goods and healthcare indices also closing in the green.

In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap index slipped 0.41 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap index fell 0.67 per cent, underscoring that the selling pressure was not confined to large caps alone.

The day‑long decline shaved off nearly ₹2.99 lakh crore from investors’ wealth, as the combined market capitalisation of BSE‑listed companies fell from ₹469.36 lakh crore on the previous trading day to an estimated ₹466.37 lakh crore after today’s session. This means that the collective value of Indian equities dropped by roughly three lakh crore rupees in a single session, reflecting the scale of the correction.

On the BSE, active trading was recorded in 4,449 scrips, of which 1,762 advanced, 2,517 declined and 170 ended unchanged. On the NSE, 2,965 stocks traded, with 1,031 closing higher and 1,934 ending lower, further highlighting the dominance of selling pressure.

Among Sensex constituents, 25 of the 30 stocks finished in the red, while five ended in positive territory; on the Nifty 50, 33 scrips closed lower against 17 that gained.

Top gainers and losers

Among blue‑chip stocks, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories led the gainers with a robust 9.37 per cent rise, followed by Cipla (5.63 per cent), Jio Financial (4.26 per cent), Adani Enterprises (1.73 per cent) and Apollo Hospitals (1.55 per cent). On the flip side, Trent Limited, Shriram Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI Life Insurance and Tech Mahindra were among the top losers, shedding 4.13 per cent, 3.37 per cent, 3.24 per cent, 3.01 per cent and 2.81 per cent respectively.

The BSE Sensex opened at 77,983.66 and dipped as much as 942 points intraday to 77,574.18 before climbing back slightly to close at 77,664, down 852.49 points (–1.09 per cent).

Similarly, the Nifty began at 24,202.35, slipped to a low of 24,162.50, and finally settled at 24,173.05, marking a loss of 205.05 points (–0.84 per cent).

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar