New Delhi, 15 May (H.S.): After two consecutive days of gains, domestic stock markets fell today, wiping out about ₹1.68 lakh crore from investors’ wealth.Trading began with modest gains and the market remained firm for the first two hours.
However, as the day progressed selling pressure increased. From around 11:00 am both the Sensex and Nifty began to show volatility, and by 1:00 pm sellers had taken control. The Sensex slid more than 730 points from its intra‑day high, while the Nifty fell roughly 230 points from its peak. At close, the Sensex ended down 0.21 percent and the Nifty down 0.19 percent.
Buying persisted through the day in IT, pharmaceutical and FMCG stocks. The automobile and tech indices also closed in positive territory. In contrast, public sector enterprises, energy and banking shares faced selling pressure. Oil & gas, consumer durables and capital goods indices closed in the red as well. Broad‑market selling pushed the Nifty midcap index down 0.45 percent, while the smallcap index fell 0.61 percent.
The weakness erased more than ₹1.68 lakh crore from investors’ holdings. The market capitalisation of BSE‑listed companies fell to an estimated ₹460.55 lakh crore at close, down from ₹462.23 lakh crore at the previous close.
On the NSE, 2,930 stocks were actively traded today, of which 1,016 closed with gains and 1,914 ended lower. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 14 advanced and 16 declined. Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 22 ended higher and 28 finished lower.
The BSE Sensex opened at 75,497.10, up 98.38 points. Immediate selling drove it down to 75,251.15, but buyers then pushed it up sharply by 471.64 points to 75,870.36. Renewed selling in the afternoon dragged the index down; it fell 730.95 points from the day’s high to 75,139.41 (a drop of 259.31 points from an earlier reference). Late intraday buying recovered about 100 points from the low, and the Sensex closed at 75,237.99, down 160.73 points.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty started at 23,731.40 after a jump of 41.80 points. Early selling pushed it down to 23,663.35, before buyers staged a recovery to 23,839.30 (a gain of 149.70 points). Profit‑taking later pulled the index lower; it slid about 229 points from the day’s peak and, after late buying, recovered more than 30 points from the low to close at 23,643.50, down 46.10 points.
Among major movers, TMPV led the gainers with a rise of 5.25 percent, followed by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (up 2.54 percent), Infosys (up 2.19 percent), Tech Mahindra (up 2.02 percent) and Coal India (up 1.79 percent).
The top losers included Hindalco Industries (down 3.24 percent), Nestlé India (down 1.99 percent), Tata Steel (down 1.94 percent), Aeturnum (down 1.89 percent) and Reliance Industries (down 1.87 percent).
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
