New Delhi, 31 August (H.S.): The Indian stock market came under heavy pressure on Monday as escalating tensions in West Asia triggered a sharp rise in crude oil prices, weighing on investor sentiment. The domestic equity benchmarks opened on a weak note. Although buying support briefly helped the Sensex and Nifty recover after the opening, selling pressure soon returned to the market.

Persistent selling dragged both indices lower through much of the session. However, buyers attempted a recovery during the final hour of trading, helping the benchmarks pare some of their losses. At the close, the Sensex was down 0.40 per cent, while the Nifty declined 0.39 per cent. The market downturn wiped out approximately Rs 3.79 lakh crore of investors’ wealth.

The BSE Sensex opened 133.78 points, or 0.17 per cent, lower at 77,130.73. Soon after trading began, buying interest emerged and pushed the index up to 77,177.27. Selling pressure subsequently intensified. Continued offloading dragged the Sensex down 513.19 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 76,751.32 shortly after 11 a.m.

Thereafter, buyers attempted to rebuild their positions, leading to a gradual recovery in the index. Buying activity gathered momentum around 2:30 p.m. With support from renewed purchases, the Sensex recovered 205.95 points from the day’s low and eventually closed 307.24 points, or 0.40 per cent, lower at 76,957.27.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 58.10 points, or 0.24 per cent, lower at 24,117.55. Buying immediately after the opening helped the index recover briefly to 24,128.70. However, selling pressure subsequently took over.

Following sustained selling, the Nifty fell 182.05 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 23,993.60 by 11:15 a.m., after roughly two hours of trading. The decline subsequently moderated as buying interest returned. During the final hour, stronger buying helped the index recover 86.80 points from its intraday low before it closed 95.25 points, or 0.39 per cent, lower at 24,080.40.

Metal stocks witnessed heavy selling throughout the session. The Nifty Metal Index declined 2.42 per cent amid intense selling pressure. The media sector also came under significant pressure, ending with a decline of more than 2 per cent. IT, automobile, capital goods, consumer durables, FMCG, healthcare, and oil and gas indices also closed in negative territory.

In contrast, banking and public sector enterprise stocks attracted buying interest. Despite the overall weakness in the market, the Nifty Banking Index gained 0.92 per cent. The broader market witnessed mixed trading. The Nifty Midcap Index rose 0.24 per cent, while the Smallcap Index ended 0.74 per cent lower.

The decline in equities resulted in a loss of more than Rs 3.75 lakh crore in the wealth of stock market investors. The market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE fell to Rs 490.33 lakh crore (provisional) at the end of Monday’s session, compared with Rs 494.12 lakh crore on Friday, the last trading day of the previous week. This translates into an estimated loss of around Rs 3.79 lakh crore for investors in a single session.

A total of 4,680 stocks were actively traded on the BSE during the day. Of these, 1,858 closed higher, 2,572 declined, while 250 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 3,238 stocks witnessed active trading, with 1,160 ending in the green and 2,078 closing lower.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, seven stocks advanced and 23 declined. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 20 closed with gains, while 30 ended in the red.

Among the market’s major companies, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 3.38 per cent, Nestle rose 2.88 per cent, Axis Bank advanced 2.77 per cent, Max Healthcare gained 2.76 per cent, and Grasim Industries climbed 2.46 per cent, making them the top five gainers of the day.

On the other hand, Adani Enterprises plunged 9.76 per cent, Adani Ports declined 6.70 per cent, ITC fell 3.95 per cent, Bharti Airtel dropped 3.75 per cent, and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited (TMPV) declined 3.30 per cent, making them the top five losers of the session.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar