New Delhi, 03 September (H.S.): Domestic equity markets closed in the red for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday despite gaining ground in early trade, coinciding with the expiry of Sensex derivatives. The market is believed to have failed to sustain its initial gains due to profit booking at higher levels and heavy selling in select sectors, particularly information technology (IT), automobiles and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).
The trading session began on a firm note. During the first half-hour, sustained buying support pushed both the Sensex and Nifty higher. Thereafter, profit booking emerged in the market. Selling pressure from higher levels dragged the Sensex down by more than 770 points during the intra-day session. Similarly, the Nifty plunged more than 150 points intra-day. The market weakness resulted in stock market investors losing nearly Rs 87,000 crore in a single day. At the close of trading, the Sensex declined 0.55 per cent, while the Nifty fell 0.17 per cent.
The BSE Sensex opened at 76,724.95, gaining 154.60 points, or 0.20 per cent. Although some mild selling was witnessed immediately after the opening, buyers soon became active and stepped up purchases. Supported by buying, the Sensex gained 354.13 points, or 0.46 per cent, to reach 76,924.48 during the first half-hour of trade.
Thereafter, selling triggered by profit booking began to weigh on the market, sending the index lower. Buyers made several attempts to support the market through bouts of buying during the session, but the selling pressure was so intense that none of these efforts could reverse the trend. At the end of the day's trading, the Sensex had slipped 771.62 points from its intra-day high and closed at 76,152.86, down 417.49 points, or 0.55 per cent.
Like the Sensex, the NSE Nifty also opened on a strong note, surging 83.50 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 23,997.95. Shortly after the market opened, buyers stepped up purchases, accelerating the index's upward movement. Supported by sustained buying, the Nifty climbed 110.95 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 24,025.40 during the first half-hour of trading.
Thereafter, bears intensified selling pressure in the stock market. As selling gathered momentum, the index surrendered all its gains and slipped into negative territory. Although intermittent buying attempts continued, the index kept falling. Persistent selling pressure caused the Nifty to retreat 151.95 points from its intra-day high and close at 23,873.45, down 41 points, or 0.17 per cent.
During Thursday's trading session, realty stocks witnessed strong buying interest. Media stocks also remained in demand throughout the session. Robust buying in these two sectors helped the Realty index gain 2.50 per cent and the Media index rise 1.70 per cent. Banking, capital goods and public sector enterprise indices also ended the session in positive territory.
On the other hand, automobile, FMCG and IT stocks witnessed heavy selling during the session. Consumer durables, pharmaceuticals, metals, and oil and gas indices also closed in the red. The broader market, however, continued to witness buying interest.
Supported by this buying, the Nifty Midcap index closed 0.37 per cent higher. Similarly, the Smallcap index ended the session with a gain of 1.20 per cent. The weakness in the stock market reduced the wealth of investors by more than Rs 85,000 crore. The market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE declined to Rs 487.10 lakh crore (provisional) after Thursday's trading session, compared with Rs 487.97 lakh crore on the previous trading day, Wednesday. Thus, investors lost approximately Rs 87,000 crore during the day's trade.
A total of 3,234 stocks were actively traded on the NSE during the day. Of these, 1,985 stocks closed in positive territory, while 1,249 ended with losses. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, seven stocks closed higher and 23 ended lower. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 21 closed in the green and 29 in the red.
Among the leading stocks, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Tata Consumer Products and Bharat Electronics emerged as the top five gainers, rising 2.02 per cent, 1.04 per cent, 0.83 per cent, 0.71 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra, Trent Limited, Cipla and Mahindra & Mahindra figured among the top five losers, declining 1.73 per cent, 1.54 per cent, 1.29 per cent, 1.28 per cent and 1.25 per cent, respectively.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
