New Delhi, 07 September (H.S.): Domestic equity markets once again came under pressure on Monday amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran in West Asia, a rise in crude oil prices, and continued selling by foreign investors. Trading began on a weak note, although buyers initially attempted to build buying momentum soon after the opening, leading to a marginal improvement in the movement of both the Sensex and the Nifty.

However, the buying momentum failed to sustain for long, and selling pressure soon intensified in the market, pushing both indices lower. After a full day of trading, the Sensex and the Nifty closed 0.50 per cent lower. The weakness in the market resulted in an estimated loss of around Rs 3.14 lakh crore for investors.

The BSE Sensex opened at 76,446.05 points, declining 69.38 points, or 0.09 per cent. Immediately after the start of trading, buying support lifted the index by 31.14 points from its opening level to 76,477.19 points. However, this phase of buying did not last long. Selling pressure soon took control of the market, causing the Sensex to resume its decline.

Amid sustained selling, the index fell 544.91 points, or 0.71 per cent, to 75,970.52 points by 3 p.m. During the final half-hour of trading, buyers once again stepped in at lower levels, enabling the Sensex to recover 162.29 points from the day's low. The index eventually closed at 76,132.81 points, down 382.62 points, or 0.50 per cent.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty began the day's trading at 23,883.15 points, down 14.55 points, or 0.06 per cent. Buying support immediately after the market opened pushed the index marginally higher to 23,890 points. Thereafter, selling pressure intensified, dragging the Nifty lower.

Due to continued selling in equities, the index slipped 159.80 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 23,737.90 points shortly before the close of trading. Buyers then initiated fresh purchases at lower levels, helping the Nifty recover 41.25 points. The index ultimately ended at 23,779.15 points, down 118.55 points, or 0.50 per cent.

During Monday's trading session, IT stocks witnessed heavy selling, causing the Nifty IT index to decline 2.28 per cent. Similarly, selling in metal stocks dragged the BSE Metal index down 1.36 per cent. Banking, automobile, capital goods, consumer durables, FMCG, oil and gas, and public sector enterprise indices also closed in the red.

On the other hand, pharmaceutical stocks attracted buying interest during the session. However, buying in the pharmaceutical sector failed to provide any meaningful support to the broader market as selling pressure persisted across most other sectors. The broader market also remained generally under pressure. The Nifty Midcap index closed 0.46 per cent lower, while the Smallcap index ended the session with a marginal gain of 0.02 per cent.

The weakness in the stock market resulted in a decline of more than Rs 3 lakh crore in investors' wealth. The market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE fell to Rs 486.61 lakh crore (provisional) after Monday's trading session, compared with Rs 489.75 lakh crore at the close of trading on Friday, the last trading day of the previous week. Thus, investors lost approximately Rs 3.14 lakh crore during Monday's session.

A total of 4,729 stocks were actively traded on the BSE during the day. Of these, 2,010 stocks closed higher, while 1,474 declined and 245 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 3,260 stocks witnessed active trading, with 1,300 ending in the green and 1,960 closing in the red. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, seven stocks gained while 23 declined. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 13 closed higher and 37 ended lower.

After a full day of buying and selling, Apollo Hospitals, Larsen & Toubro, Coal India, Bharti Airtel and Max Healthcare emerged among the top five gainers among major stocks, advancing 1.27 per cent, 0.88 per cent, 0.84 per cent, 0.76 per cent and 0.73 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, Infosys, SBI Life Insurance, HDFC Life, Jio Financial and Tech Mahindra figured among the top five losers, declining 3.76 per cent, 2.42 per cent, 2.42 per cent, 2.13 per cent and 2.06 per cent, respectively.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar