New Delhi, 28 April (H.S.): Domestic equities ended the day in the red amidst a sharply volatile trading session, with the benchmark Sensex and Nifty giving up early gains to close lower. The sharp intraday swings wiped over ₹30,000 crore off investors’ wealth as profit‑booking in heavyweight financial, IT and auto counters overshadowed gains in energy, metals and public‑sector stocks.

Sensex and Nifty close in the red

The BSE Sensex opened at 77,094.79, down 208.84 points, but quickly bounced back into the green as buying revived in the first hour of trade. Around 11 a.m., the index surged roughly 398 points from its opening level to touch an intraday high near 77,493, up about 189 points. However, selling pressure intensified in the afternoon, dragging the barometer back into negative territory.

Sensex finally closed at 76,886.91, down 416.72 points (–0.54 per cent). The Nifty 50 mirrored the volatility, opening at 24,049.90 and rallying about 132 points intraday to 24,181.80 before surrendering all gains. The index ended at 23,995.70, down 97 points (–0.40 per cent), slipping below the 24,000 mark.

Sectoral performance: laggards and leaders

Banking, IT and auto stocks were the main drags, with Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, Interglobe Aviation, Maruti Suzuki and Shriram Finance among the top losers, shedding 2.20–2.66 per cent each. Public‑sector banking and FMCG counters also weighed on sentiment.

In contrast, the energy, oil & gas, and metals segments posted strong gains, led by ONGC (up 5.39 per cent), Adani Enterprises (3.90 per cent), Coal India (3.20 per cent), Reliance Industries (1.69 per cent) and Nestlé India (1.60 per cent), which featured among the top five gainers. Public‑sector enterprise, technology and capital‑goods indices also closed in the green, while broader‑market indices outperformed benchmarks.

The Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.28 per cent and the Smallcap 100 added 0.42 per cent, indicating that smaller‑cap and mid‑cap counters were relatively resilient amid the benchmark declines. Across the National Stock Exchange, 1,249 of 2,964 traded stocks ended higher, while 1,715 closed in the red.

Total market capitalisation of BSE‑listed companies fell to about ₹466.94 lakh crore, from roughly ₹467.26 lakh crore the previous session, implying a notional wealth erosion of around ₹32,000 crore for investors by day’s end.

Analysts attributed the choppy trade to profit‑booking after a previous‑day rally and cautious global cues, with bulls attempting to rotate capital into defensive and infrastructure‑linked sectors.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar