New Delhi, 24 July (H.S.): The domestic stock market witnessed sharp volatility during Friday's trading session. While bears dominated the first half of the session, bulls attempted a strong comeback in the second half. However, despite the recovery efforts by buyers, the benchmark indices ended the day in the red.

During the first session, intense selling pressure dragged the Sensex down by more than 900 points. Similarly, the Nifty also plunged over 260 points. However, after buying activity picked up in the second half, the Sensex managed to recover more than 730 points from its day’s low. The Nifty also staged a recovery of over 215 points from the lowest level of the day.

According to market experts, rising crude oil prices exerted significant pressure on the stock market during the first half of trading. Prashant Dhami, Vice President of Dhami Securities, said that due to the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran and disruptions in crude oil supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz, international crude oil prices had already crossed the $100 per barrel mark on Thursday.

During Friday’s trading session, Brent crude remained around the $101 per barrel level for a considerable period in the first half, keeping global equity markets, including Indian markets, under pressure.

Apart from rising crude oil prices, domestic concerns also contributed to the pressure on the market. In the first half of trading, heavy selling in shares of IT major Infosys during early trade negatively impacted market sentiment. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) also continued their selling spree during the initial session, adding to the pressure on the market.

According to Prashant Dhami, the situation started improving in the second half of the session. A downward trend in international crude oil prices provided relief to investors. Brent crude declined from $101.13 per barrel to $96.56 per barrel, and the fall in oil prices played an important role in improving market sentiment.

Buying at lower levels in the domestic equity market also helped stabilise the indices. Banking stocks witnessed a strong recovery from their lows. The Bank Nifty had fallen to 56,023.60 points during early trade but later recovered nearly 670 points from the day’s low to reach 56,693.50 points, supported by renewed buying in banking shares.

The strong recovery in the banking sector further boosted confidence in the domestic stock market. Additionally, the recovery of the Indian rupee against the US dollar in the currency market also contributed to improving investor sentiment, which was reflected in the market’s recovery from the day’s lower levels.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar