New Delhi, 28 July (H.S.): The domestic stock market ended marginally lower on Tuesday after witnessing a range-bound and volatile session throughout the day. The market movement was influenced by the monthly expiry of derivative contracts of Nifty, Bank Nifty, other NSE indices, and individual stocks. The market had opened on a weak note, and throughout the trading session, bulls and bears remained engaged in a tussle, causing both the Sensex and Nifty indices to fluctuate. At the end of the day’s trading, the Sensex declined 0.09 per cent, while the Nifty slipped 0.04 per cent.

The BSE Sensex opened at 76,831.75 points, down marginally by 4.03 points. Soon after the opening, buying and selling pressures intensified, leading to fluctuations in the index. Supported by buying activity, the Sensex climbed 152.70 points, or 0.20 per cent, to reach an intraday high of 76,988.48 points. However, amid selling pressure, it fell 163.01 points, or 0.21 per cent, to touch an intraday low of 76,672.77 points. After a full day of trading, the Sensex closed 69.86 points lower at 76,765.92 points.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty began trading 24.70 points lower at 23,971.25 points. The index remained volatile within a narrow range throughout the session. With support from buying interest, the Nifty rose 45.20 points, or 0.19 per cent, to touch an intraday high of 24,041.15 points. Later, selling pressure dragged it down by 41.35 points, or 0.17 per cent, to an intraday low of 23,954.60 points. At the end of the session, the Nifty closed 10.60 points lower at 23,985.35 points.

During Tuesday’s trading session, IT stocks witnessed strong buying interest, helping the Nifty IT index close with a gain of 3.32 per cent. Realty, automobile, consumer durables, and oil and gas indices also ended in positive territory. On the other hand, capital goods stocks faced heavy selling pressure, pulling the BSE Capital Goods Index down by 2.40 per cent. Banking, FMCG, healthcare, metal, and public sector enterprise indices also closed in the red.

In the broader market, trading remained mixed. The Nifty Midcap index ended with a marginal gain of 0.08 per cent, while the Smallcap index declined 0.22 per cent.

The decline in the stock market led to a fall of more than Rs 1 lakh crore in investors’ wealth. The total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies declined to Rs 479.22 lakh crore (provisional) after Tuesday’s trading, compared to Rs 480.33 lakh crore on the previous trading day, Monday. As a result, investors suffered a loss of around Rs 1.11 lakh crore during the day.

A total of 4,424 stocks were actively traded on the BSE during the session. Of these, 1,626 shares closed higher, 2,629 declined, and 169 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 2,986 stocks witnessed active trading, with 938 closing in the green and 2,048 ending in the red. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 17 stocks gained while 13 declined. In the Nifty 50 pack, 30 stocks ended higher and 20 closed lower.

Among the major stocks, TCS gained 4.46 per cent, Eternal rose 4.23 per cent, Tech Mahindra climbed 3.82 per cent, Nestle India advanced 3.16 per cent, and Cipla gained 2.50 per cent, making them the top five gainers of the day.

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever declined 6.99 per cent, Bharat Electronics fell 4.46 per cent, Coal India dropped 4.06 per cent, Tata Consumer Products slipped 2.28 per cent, and NTPC declined 2.01 per cent, emerging among the top five losers of the session.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar