New Delhi, 18 September (H.S.): The domestic stock market ended on a mixed note on Friday after witnessing considerable volatility throughout the trading session. The market opened on a firm note, but buying and selling pressure soon intensified, keeping both the Sensex and Nifty confined to a narrow range until around 2 p.m.

Buying activity picked up thereafter, pushing both indices higher. However, selling pressure emerged during the final half-hour of trade, pulling the indices down from their intraday highs. At the close, the Sensex declined 0.03 per cent, while the Nifty gained 0.33 per cent.

The BSE Sensex opened at 74,575.24, up 260.65 points, or 0.35 per cent. Soon after the opening, selling pressure dragged the index down to 74,375.07. Buying emerged at this level, leading to some recovery, while the index continued to trade within a narrow range with minor fluctuations until around 2 p.m.

Thereafter, strong buying pushed the Sensex up by 413.85 points, or 0.56 per cent, over the next hour to an intraday high of 74,728.44. However, profit-booking during the final half-hour caused the index to fall 433.48 points from its peak. The Sensex eventually closed at 74,294.96, down 19.63 points, or 0.03 per cent.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened at 23,334.70, gaining 64.10 points, or 0.28 per cent. Selling pressure immediately after the opening pulled the index down to 23,286.60, after which buying support helped halt the decline.

Around 2 p.m., broad-based buying emerged in the market. Supported by sustained buying, the Nifty climbed to an intraday high of 23,389.15 shortly before 3 p.m., gaining 118.55 points, or 0.51 per cent. Profit-booking subsequently pulled the index down by more than 40 points from its high. The Nifty finally closed at 23,346.40, up 75.80 points, or 0.33 per cent.

Consumer durables and IT stocks remained under selling pressure throughout the session. As a result, the BSE Consumer Durables Index declined 1.27 per cent, while the Nifty IT Index ended 1.03 per cent lower. The automobile and FMCG indices also closed in negative territory.

In contrast, capital goods stocks witnessed strong buying interest. Supported by the buying momentum, the BSE Capital Goods Index gained 1.56 per cent. Banking, healthcare, metal, public sector enterprise, and oil and gas indices also ended higher.

The broader market also witnessed sustained buying activity. The Nifty Midcap Index advanced 1.24 per cent, while the Smallcap Index surged 1.74 per cent.

The strength in mid-cap and small-cap stocks resulted in a substantial increase in investors’ wealth. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies rose to Rs 479.79 lakh crore (provisional) at the end of Friday’s trading session, compared with Rs 477.83 lakh crore on Thursday, the previous trading day. Consequently, investors’ wealth increased by around Rs 1.96 lakh crore during the session.

A total of 3,245 stocks were actively traded on the NSE during the day. Of these, 2,151 stocks closed in positive territory, while 1,094 ended with losses. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 10 stocks gained and 20 declined. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 26 closed higher and 24 ended lower.

Among major stocks, Adani Ports gained 4.93 per cent, Adani Enterprises 3.31 per cent, Bharti Airtel 3.12 per cent, HDFC Bank 2.52 per cent and Bajaj Finance 2.49 per cent, placing them among the top five gainers of the day.

On the other hand, TCS declined 3.88 per cent, TMPV 3.40 per cent, SBI Life Insurance 2.03 per cent, Coal India 1.94 per cent and Maruti Suzuki 1.90 per cent, making them the top five losers of the session.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar