New Delhi, 18 August (H.S.): Indian equity markets remained under pressure throughout Tuesday's trading session amid heavy selling in IT stocks, rising crude oil prices and fading hopes of a rapprochement between the United States and Iran. The Sensex declined for the third consecutive session, while the Nifty extended its losing streak to six sessions. At the close, the Sensex was down 0.63 per cent and the Nifty fell 0.55 per cent.

The BSE Sensex opened 309.19 points, or 0.40 per cent, lower at 77,418.97. Shortly after the opening, buying interest emerged and pushed the index up to 77,575.21. However, the recovery proved short-lived as selling pressure returned to the market, dragging the index lower. After trading in a range-bound but weak session, the Sensex closed 492.70 points, or 0.63 per cent, lower at 77,235.46.

The NSE Nifty similarly opened 63.80 points, or 0.26 per cent, lower at 24,223.85. It initially recovered by more than 45 points from its opening level on the back of buying support, touching 24,269.65. The index, however, came under sustained selling pressure thereafter and continued to weaken. The Nifty finally settled 132.75 points, or 0.55 per cent, lower at 24,154.90.

IT stocks bore the brunt of selling pressure during the session, with the Nifty IT index ending 1.93 per cent lower. The Consumer Durables index also declined 0.81 per cent. Banking, Capital Goods, FMCG, Metal, Oil and Gas, and Public Sector Enterprises indices also closed in negative territory.

In contrast, buying interest was seen in automobile, healthcare and media stocks. The broader market also remained under pressure, with the Nifty Midcap index declining 0.43 per cent and the Smallcap index ending 0.40 per cent lower.

The market decline eroded more than Rs 2.75 lakh crore from investors' wealth. The market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE fell to Rs 490.78 lakh crore on a provisional basis at the end of Tuesday's session, compared with Rs 493.55 lakh crore at the close of trading on Monday. Investors therefore suffered an estimated loss of around Rs 2.77 lakh crore during the session.

A total of 4,530 stocks were actively traded on the BSE. Of these, 1,930 closed higher, 2,384 declined and 216 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 3,057 stocks witnessed active trading, with 1,307 ending in positive territory and 1,750 closing lower.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, eight stocks advanced while 22 declined. In the Nifty 50 pack, only 10 stocks closed with gains, while 40 ended in the red.

Among the major gainers, Axis Bank rose 1.28 per cent, Max Healthcare gained 1.07 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra advanced 0.92 per cent, Grasim Industries climbed 0.87 per cent and Power Grid Corporation gained 0.70 per cent.

On the losing side, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. (TMPV) declined 2.24 per cent, Asian Paints fell 2.20 per cent, Infosys dropped 2.18 per cent, Wipro declined 2.11 per cent and HCL Technologies lost 2.04 per cent, making them the top five laggards among the major stocks.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar