New Delhi, 24 February (H.S.): Domestic bourses cratered Tuesday amid weak global cues, IT sector bloodbath, rupee depreciation, and surging crude prices—erasing ₹3.38 lakh crore from investor wealth as Sensex shed 1.28% and Nifty 1.12%.

Midday Buying Halts Freefall, IT Crashes 4.74%

Opened weak, indices plunged on broad selling; post-1:30 PM buyers stemmed intraday lows (Sensex -1,359.93 pts to 81,934.73; Nifty -385.40 to 25,327.60). Sensex closed at 82,225.92 (-1,068.74 pts); Nifty 25,424.65 (-288.35 pts).

IT plunged 4.74%, Realty >2%; Banking/Auto/Consumer Durables/Tech red; PSE/Oil&Gas/Metal/Healthcare/FMCG/Capital Goods green. Midcap (-0.30%), Smallcap (-0.55%) bled.

Top Gainers/Losers Amid BSE Cap Slide

BSE market cap shrank to ₹465.81 lakh cr from Monday's ₹469.19 lakh cr. BSE: 1,422 advancers/2,802 decliners/143 flat (4,367 active); NSE: 835 up/2,102 down (2,937 active). Sensex: 8 gainers/22 losers; Nifty: 17 up/33 down.

Top Gainers: NTPC +1.94%, Coal India +1.16%, JSW Steel +1.13%, Hindalco +0.73%, HUL +0.56%.

Top Losers: Tech Mahindra -6.63%, HCL Tech -6.10%, Eternal -5.22%, Infosys -3.92%, TCS -3.83%.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar