New Delhi, April 3 (H.S.): The recent changes in America’s tariff policy significantly impacted the domestic stock market, initiating trading today with a sharp decline. However, buoyed by buying support, both the Sensex and Nifty indices made notable efforts to recover post-10:30 AM. Unfortunately, increasing selling pressure later in the day led to a consistent decline, ultimately closing the Sensex down by 0.42% and the Nifty by 0.35%. Throughout the trading session, there was robust buying activity in Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) banks, public sector enterprises, and the pharmaceutical sector, whereas the automobile, IT, and metal segments experienced notable selling. Other areas like oil and gas, real estate, and tech also faced declines.
In contrast, the broader market demonstrated a healthier trend, with the BSE mid-cap index closing up by 0.31% and the small-cap index up by 0.76%. Despite the market’s overall weakness, favorable activity in mid-cap and small-cap stocks resulted in an increase of over ₹30,000 crores in investors' wealth, pushing the market capitalization of BSE-listed companies to a provisional ₹413.31 lakh crore, up from ₹412.98 lakh crore at the previous session’s close, signifying a profit of around ₹33,000 crores today.
During the day, 4,055 shares were actively traded on the BSE, with 2,813 finishing in the green and 1,170 in decline; 72 shares showed no movement. The NSE recorded trading in 2,603 shares, with 1,851 gaining and 752 losing value. Within the Sensex’s 30 constituents, 13 ended positively while 17 declined; similarly, out of 50 Nifty stocks, 23 gained and 27 fell.
The BSE Sensex began trading with a considerable drop of 805.58 points, starting at 75,811.86 points, and briefly dipped to 75,807.55 points before recovering nearly 700 points post-digitally supported buying, peaking at 76,493.74 points. Yet, after 10:30 AM, the selling pressure led to a decline, resulting in a closing value of 76,295.36 points, down by 322.08 points. The Nifty, beginning at 23,150.30 points and dipping initially to 23,145.80 points, saw similar recovery and eventual decline, closing at 23,250.10 points, down by 82.25 points.
Among major stocks, Power Grid Corporation led with a 4.31% gain, followed by Sun Pharmaceuticals at 3.29%, while TCS was the top loser, falling by 3.97%.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
