New Delhi, August 8(HS):

The Indian stock market witnessed a steep decline on Thursday, wiping out investor wealth worth ₹4.78 lakh crore. Weak global cues, renewed fears over U.S. tariffs, and sustained selling by foreign investors weighed heavily on investor sentiment.

The BSE Sensex plunged 765.47 points to close at 79,857.79, while the Nifty 50 fell by 232.85 points to settle at 24,363.30, both indices losing nearly 0.95%. Although markets opened weak and saw brief intraday recoveries, persistent selling pressure overwhelmed buyers across the board.

Selling was widespread with all sectoral indices on BSE ending in the red. The worst-hit sectors included banking, pharmaceuticals, and automobiles, followed by declines in IT, metals, oil & gas, and FMCG. The BSE Midcap and Small-cap indices also fell sharply, down 1.56% and 1.03%, respectively.

On the BSE, of the 4,173 stocks that were actively traded, over 2,500 ended in losses while around 1,500 posted gains. The NSE witnessed a similar trend, with 1,808 shares declining out of 2,685 traded.

Market capitalization of BSE-listed firms dropped from ₹445.35 lakh crore to ₹440.57 lakh crore, reflecting a total erosion of approximately ₹4.78 lakh crore in investor wealth.

Among major blue-chip stocks:

Top gainers included:

NTPC (+1.52%)

Titan Company (+1.30%)

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (+0.88%)

HDFC Life (+0.77%)

Bajaj Finserv (+0.27%)

Top losers were:

Bharti Airtel (-3.33%)

Adani Enterprises (-3.19%)

IndusInd Bank (-3.08%)

Shriram Finance (-2.82%)

Mahindra & Mahindra (-2.08%)

Market volatility is expected to persist amid ongoing concerns over global trade policies and foreign fund outflows.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar