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

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty succumbed to sharp declines today, snapping a five-session winning streak, as uncertainty over the West Asia ceasefire triggered widespread selling pressure mirroring global market tremors.

Both indices opened lower but

briefly recovered on buying support in the first 15 minutes. However, relentless sell-offs ensued, with Sensex plunging 1,251 points intraday to 76,347.90 and Nifty diving 314 points to 23,682.80 around 2:30 p.m. Late bargain hunting pared some losses, but Sensex still settled 931.25 points (1.20%) lower at 76,631.65, while Nifty closed 222.25 points (0.93%) down at 23,775.10.

Sectoral carnage dominated: Oil & Gas, PSU Banks, Consumer Durables, Infrastructure, and Private Banks shed 0.40-2%. Auto, FMCG, and Tech indices also ended weaker. Conversely, PSEs, Metals, Healthcare, IT, and Capital Goods attracted buyers. Broader markets showed resilience, with Nifty Midcap up 0.32% and Smallcap gaining 0.17%.

The downturn eroded over ₹83,000 crore in investor wealth, trimming BSE-listed firms' market cap to ₹444.68 lakh crore (provisional) from Wednesday's ₹445.51 lakh crore.

Trading volumes reflected the chop: NSE saw 2,972 active stocks, with 1,376 advancing against 1,596 decliners. Of Sensex's 30 constituents, 9 gained and 21 fell; Nifty's 50 stocks split 21 up, 29 down.

Intraday Swings

Sensex debuted at 77,319.33 (down 243.57), recovered to 77,429.33 within 10 minutes, then cascaded amid profit-booking. Nifty mirrored: opened at 23,909.05 (down 88.30), touched 23,990.75, before sliding to its nadir.

Top Gainers & Losers

Hindalco Industries (+3.56%), Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (+1.72%), Bajaj Auto (+1.61%), Bharat Electronics (+1.54%), Max Healthcare (+1.47%) led advances.

Laggards: InterGlobe Aviation (-3.61%), Jio Financial (-3.25%), Larsen & Toubro (-2.74%), Shriram Finance (-2.63%), Eternal (-2.35%).

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar