New Delhi, May 27 (H.S.): On the monthly expiry day of the Sensex, the domestic stock market closed with marginal losses after trading within a limited range throughout the session. Trading had begun on a weak note, and after the market opened, a tussle between buyers and sellers kept both the Sensex and Nifty fluctuating during the day. At the close of trading, the Sensex ended down 0.19 percent, while the Nifty slipped 0.03 percent.

During the day’s trading session, strong buying activity was witnessed in the media, power, and capital goods sectors. Similarly, telecom, automobile, metal, consumer durables, and healthcare indices also closed firmly in the green. On the other hand, continuous selling pressure was seen in FMCG, banking, IT, and oil & gas stocks. The broader market generally maintained a positive trend, due to which the Nifty Midcap Index closed 0.42 percent higher. Likewise, the Smallcap Index ended the session with gains of 0.15 percent.

Despite weakness in the overall market, heavy buying in capital goods and power sector stocks led to an increase of nearly ₹2.75 lakh crore in investors’ wealth. The market capitalization of companies listed on the BSE rose to ₹470.84 lakh crore (provisional) by the end of today’s trading session, compared to ₹468.11 lakh crore on the previous trading day, Tuesday. Thus, investors gained nearly ₹2.73 lakh crore during the day’s trade.

A total of 4,394 shares witnessed active trading on the BSE during the session. Among these, 2,275 shares closed higher, while 1,945 shares ended lower and 174 shares remained unchanged. On the NSE, 2,980 shares were actively traded, of which 1,539 closed in the green with gains and 1,441 ended in the red with losses. Similarly, among the 30 Sensex stocks, 20 closed higher while 10 ended lower. Among the 50 Nifty stocks, 34 closed in the green and 16 in the red.

The BSE Sensex opened today at 75,939.86 points, down 69.84 points. As soon as trading began, buyers and sellers attempted to dominate each other, leading to fluctuations in the index. Supported by buying, the Sensex climbed 214.98 points to touch an intraday high of 76,224.68 points. However, under selling pressure, it also plunged 261.49 points to an intraday low of 75,748.21 points. After a volatile trading session, the Sensex finally closed at 75,867.80 points, down 141.90 points.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty started the session at 23,880.35 points, down 33.35 points. Continuous buying and selling activity after the opening caused the index to fluctuate within a narrow range throughout the day. Supported by buying, the Nifty rose 69.50 points to touch 23,983.20 points. However, under selling pressure, it also slipped 55.45 points to an intraday low of 23,858.25 points. At the close of trading, the Nifty settled at 23,907.15 points, down a marginal 6.55 points.

Among the heavyweight stocks, Hindalco Industries emerged as the top gainer with a rise of 4.16 percent, followed by TMPV at 3.98 percent, Power Grid Corporation at 2.60 percent, Eternal at 2.53 percent, and NTPC at 2.17 percent. On the losing side, ONGC declined 4.68 percent, ITC fell 3.22 percent, HDFC Bank slipped 2.60 percent, HDFC Life declined 1.49 percent, and Wipro ended 1.06 percent lower, making them the top five losers of the day.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar