New Delhi, 19 August (H.S.): Rising crude oil prices in the international market continued to weigh on Indian equities on Wednesday. The Nifty extended its losing streak to seven consecutive trading sessions, while the Sensex declined for the fourth straight session. The market opened with marginal losses, and although buying by bulls provided some initial support, bears soon took control. After remaining under pressure throughout the session, the Sensex closed 0.42 per cent lower, while the Nifty ended down 0.32 per cent.

The BSE Sensex opened 17.41 points lower at 77,218.05. Buying immediately after the opening pushed the index up by 112.35 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 77,347.81 within the first five minutes. However, selling pressure subsequently intensified, sending the Sensex lower.

Persistent selling dragged the index nearly 525 points from its intraday high to a low of 76,822.89, representing a decline of 412.57 points, or 0.53 per cent. Late-session buying helped the index recover more than 85 points from its low. The Sensex eventually closed at 76,909.68, down 325.78 points, or 0.42 per cent.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 2.85 points lower at 24,152.05. During the first five minutes of trading, the index gained more than 20 points from its opening level to reach 24,172.85 in positive territory. However, selling pressure subsequently pushed it back into the red.

Continued selling pulled the Nifty down more than 145 points from its intraday high to 24,025.65, a decline of 129.25 points, or 0.54 per cent. Modest buying towards the close helped the index recover more than 50 points from its low. The Nifty finally settled at 24,078.30, down 76.60 points, or 0.32 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, IT stocks remained in demand throughout the session, helping the Nifty IT index gain 0.73 per cent. In contrast, sustained selling was witnessed in capital goods, defence and energy stocks. The BSE Capital Goods index fell 1.59 per cent, while the Defence and Energy indices declined 1.50 per cent and 1.25 per cent, respectively.

Banking, automobile, consumer durables, FMCG, healthcare, metal, oil and gas, and public sector enterprise indices also ended in negative territory. The broader market remained under selling pressure as well, with the Nifty Midcap index declining 0.21 per cent and the Smallcap index falling 0.51 per cent.

The market downturn resulted in a decline of more than Rs 3.5 lakh crore in investors’ wealth. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies fell to Rs 488.67 lakh crore (provisional) at the end of Wednesday’s trading session, compared with Rs 492.18 lakh crore on the previous trading day, Tuesday. Investors therefore suffered a loss of approximately Rs 3.51 lakh crore during the session.

A total of 4,521 stocks were actively traded on the BSE. Of these, 1,807 stocks closed with gains, while 2,483 declined and 231 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 3,077 stocks saw active trading, with 1,071 ending in positive territory and 2,006 in the red.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, eight stocks advanced, 21 declined and one remained unchanged. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 16 closed higher while 34 ended lower.

Among the major stocks, HCL Technologies gained 2.06 per cent, JSW Steel 1.44 per cent, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries 1.33 per cent, Eternal 1.30 per cent and Wipro 0.84 per cent, making them the top five gainers of the day.

On the other hand, Max Healthcare declined 1.72 per cent, Coal India 1.70 per cent, Power Grid Corporation 1.68 per cent, Bajaj Finance 1.29 per cent and ITC 1.09 per cent, emerging as the top five losers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar