New Delhi, 11 March (H.S.):

Domestic stock markets plunged sharply on Wednesday, erasing early gains amid relentless selling pressure and inflicting a staggering ₹5.28 lakh crore loss on investors.

The BSE Sensex opened marginally up at 78,238.91, climbing to 78,324.37 within minutes before succumbing to sales, plummeting 1,565.11 points from its high to close 1,342.27 points, or 1.72%, lower at 76,863.71.

The NSE Nifty started down at 24,231.85 but briefly hit 24,299 before crashing 464.70 points from peak, settling 394.75 points, or 1.63%, off at 23,866.85.

Most sectoral indices closed in the red, with heavy selling in banking, automobiles, FMCG, and consumer durables; IT, capital goods, metals, PSEs, and tech also declined.

Oil & gas and pharmaceuticals bucked the trend with buying interest, while broader markets weakened—Nifty Midcap down 1.25% and Smallcap off 0.36%.

Market capitalization of BSE-listed firms shrank to ₹441.76 lakh crore (provisional) from ₹447.04 lakh crore on Tuesday, wiping out ₹5.28 lakh crore in investor wealth.

BSE saw active trading in 4,414 shares: 1,881 advanced, 2,380 declined, and 153 unchanged; Sensex had 2 gainers out of 30. NSE traded 2,937 stocks: 1,197 up, 1,740 down; Nifty had 9 gainers among 50.

Top Gainers and Losers

Reliance Jio Financial led gainers up 1.14%, followed by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (0.83%), Sun Pharma (0.72%), Coal India (0.72%), and NTPC (0.69%). Bajaj Finance topped losers at -4.91%, with Axis Bank (-4.48%), Bajaj Finserv (-3.88%), M&M (-3.81%), and Eicher Motors (-3.76%) trailing.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar