New Delhi, Aug 22 (HS):
After six straight sessions of gains, Indian equity markets turned negative on Friday as Sensex and Nifty closed nearly 1% lower, weighed down by broad-based selling across key sectors. Concerns over U.S. tariff moves, a spike in the India VIX (signaling volatility), and a weakening rupee kept sentiment under pressure throughout the day.
The benchmark BSE Sensex shed 693.86 points, or 0.85%, to close at 81,306.85 after swinging between an early high of 81,993.61 and a low of 81,291.77. The NSE Nifty ended 213.65 points down at 24,870.10, recovering only slightly from its intraday trough of 24,859.15.
Sectoral & Broader Market Performance
Selling was heaviest in banking, FMCG, oil & gas, and metals, while IT, realty, auto, energy, consumer durables, PSU and tech indices also lost ground. Only healthcare and capital goods stocks managed marginal gains. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index fell 0.23%, while the Smallcap index dropped 0.35%.
Out of 2,718 actively traded stocks on NSE, 1,056 advanced while 1,662 declined. Within the Sensex basket, only 7 of the 30 stocks closed higher, while 23 ended in the red. Similarly, just 8 of the 50 Nifty constituents gained.
Top Movers
Top Gainers (Sensex/Nifty): Mahindra & Mahindra (+0.83%), Maruti Suzuki (+0.48%), Bharti Airtel (+0.18%), Bharat Electronics (+0.17%) and Titan (+0.13%).
Top Losers (Sensex/Nifty): Asian Paints (-2.42%), Grasim Industries (-2.34%), Adani Enterprises (-2.20%), UltraTech Cement (-2.18%) and Hero MotoCorp (-1.95%).
With volatility spiking and investors cautious amid global and domestic uncertainties, analysts suggest markets may remain choppy in the near term, even as corporate earnings and economic signals continue to play a key role in driving direction.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
