New Delhi, 12 March (H.S.): India's domestic stock markets succumbed to sharp declines for the second consecutive trading session today, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closing lower amid intense volatility between bulls and bears.

The BSE Sensex opened weakly at 76,369.65, down 494.06 points, and plunged as low as 75,871.18 before recovering partially to 76,681.71, only to end 829.29 points or 1.08% lower at 76,034.42.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty started at 23,674.85, hit a low of 23,556.30, touched an intraday high of 23,833.15, and settled 227.70 points or 0.95% down at 23,639.15.

Sectoral Trends

Heavy selling pressure dominated automobiles, realty, and FMCG sectors throughout the session, dragging down banking, pharmaceuticals, IT, consumer durables, healthcare, and tech indices. In contrast, buying interest persisted in energy, public sector enterprises, oil & gas, capital goods, and metals, providing some cushion amid the broader downturn.

Broader Market and Trading Activity

The Nifty Midcap index fell 0.37%, while the Smallcap index shed 0.67%, reflecting sustained selling in broader markets. On BSE, 4,404 stocks saw active trading, with 1,715 advancing, 2,516 declining, and 173 unchanged; NSE traded 2,954 stocks, with 1,034 gainers and 1,920 losers. Among Sensex's 30 stocks, 24 closed lower; Nifty's 50 had 39 decliners.

Investor Losses

The selloff eroded approximately ₹1.75 lakh crore from investor wealth, reducing BSE-listed companies' market capitalization to ₹440.15 lakh crore (provisional) from ₹441.90 lakh crore the previous day.

Top Gainers and Losers

Coal India surged 5.23%, NTPC rose 2.80%, Power Grid gained 1.61%, Jio Financial added 1.47%, and Adani Enterprises climbed 1.38% to lead gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra dropped 4.32%, Eicher Motors fell 3.83%, Maruti Suzuki declined 3.60%, Bajaj Finance lost 3.42%, and UltraTech Cement shed 3.25% as top losers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar