New Delhi, 21 January (H.S.): Domestic stock markets closed in negative territory for the third consecutive session on Wednesday after enduring sharp intraday swings, though both benchmark indices staged impressive recoveries from their lows.

Key Index Performance

The BSE Sensex ended down 270.84 points, or 0.33 percent, at 81,909.63, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled 75 points, or 0.30 percent, lower at 25,157.50. Markets opened weakly, with bulls and bears battling throughout the day, leading to persistent volatility in both indices.

Factors Dragging Sentiment

Analysts attribute the weakness to sustained foreign investor selling, global trade tensions, rupee depreciation against the dollar, and mixed Q3 corporate earnings. These pressures prevented sustained support, causing repeated ups and downs in the indices.

Intraday Swings Detailed

Sellers dominated the morning session, dragging the Sensex to an intraday low of 81,124.45 (down over 1,056 points) around 11 a.m. and the Nifty to 24,919.80 (down 312.70 points). Buyers then drove a robust rebound, with the Sensex surging more than 1,280 points from lows to touch 82,407.05 by 1 p.m., and the Nifty climbing over 380 points to 25,300.95. Late-session profit-taking reversed gains, leading to the red close.

Sectoral Trends and Broader Market

Pharma, banking, FMCG, IT, capital goods, auto, consumer durables, PSE, and tech sectors faced selling pressure. Oil & gas and metals saw buying interest. The BSE midcap index fell 1.01 percent, and smallcap dropped 0.80 percent.

Investor Wealth Erosion

Market weakness erased about ₹1.45 lakh crore from investor wealth, reducing BSE-listed firms' market capitalization to ₹454.37 lakh crore (provisional) from ₹455.82 lakh crore on Tuesday.

Trading Activity Snapshot

BSE saw active trading in 4,405 shares: 1,459 advanced, 2,810 declined, 136 unchanged. NSE traded 2,929 shares: 860 gained, 2,069 lost. Of Sensex's 30 stocks, 13 rose and 17 fell; Nifty's 50 saw 18 up and 32 down.

Top Gainers and Losers

Top gainers included Eternal (+5.16%), Ultratech Cement (+1.43%), Interglobe Aviation (+1.41%), JSW Steel (+1.26%), and Hindalco Industries (+1.20%). Leading losers were ICICI Bank (-1.95%), Trent (-1.87%), Tata Consumer Products (-1.81%), Bharat Electronics (-1.64%), and Apollo Hospitals (-1.24%).

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar