New Delhi, 09 January (H.S.):

India's benchmark stock indices tumbled for the fourth consecutive session on Friday, with the BSE Sensex plunging more than 1,000 points from its intraday high amid relentless selling pressure, erasing ₹4.45 lakh crore from investor wealth. Trading opened weakly, briefly turning positive as buyers pushed the Sensex and Nifty into green territory, only for profit-taking to trigger a sharp reversal into red. Sensex shed 604.72 points or 0.72% to close at 83,576.24, while Nifty fell 193.55 points or 0.75% to settle at 25,683.30.

Throughout the volatile session, IT, PSU banks, and oil & gas sectors witnessed sustained buying, contrasting heavy sell-offs in automobiles, realty, FMCG, and consumer durables. Private banks, capital goods, healthcare, metals, PSEs, and tech indices also closed lower, dragging broader markets: BSE midcap index declined 0.90%, and smallcap index cratered 1.74%.

BSE-listed firms' market capitalization shrank to ₹467.80 lakh crore (provisional) from Thursday's ₹472.25 lakh crore, inflicting a staggering ₹4.45 lakh crore loss on investors.Sensex opened at 84,022.09, down 158.87 points, then surged 400 points within five minutes to 84,406.22 on early buying.

However, bears dominated post-initial hour; by 3 PM, it plummeted over 1,000 points from the peak to a low of 83,402.28 before a late 170-point recovery. Nifty mirrored this, opening at 25,840.40 (down 36.45 points), peaking at 25,940.60 (up 100+ points), then crashing over 315 points to 25,623 before closing off 193.55 points.

Trading volume reflected the bearish tilt: BSE saw 4,342 active stocks—1,066 advancers, 3,100 decliners, 176 unchanged. NSE had 2,870 stocks traded—594 gainers, 2,276 losers. Of Sensex's 30 stocks, 8 rose and 22 fell; Nifty's 50 saw 12 gainers against 38 decliners.

Top gainers included Asian Paints (+1.40%), ONGC (+1.15%), HCL Tech (+0.72%), BEL (+0.72%), and Cipla (+0.35%). Leading losers: Adani Enterprises (-2.72%), NTPC (-2.44%), Jio Financial (-2.15%), ICICI Bank (-2.14%), and Bajaj Auto (-2.03%).

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar