New Delhi, 30 July (H.S.): Indian equity markets ended on a positive note on Thursday, the day of the monthly expiry of Sensex derivatives, supported by a decline in international crude oil prices and strong buying in automobile sector stocks on the domestic front. The market began the session on a flat note with a marginal decline, but both the Sensex and Nifty witnessed significant fluctuations throughout the day.
During the volatile trading session, the Sensex surged more than 565 points from its intraday low, while the Nifty also gained over 155 points during the day. After the conclusion of trading, the Sensex closed with a gain of 0.35 per cent, while the Nifty ended 0.28 per cent higher.
The BSE Sensex opened 15.74 points lower at 77,638.86. Soon after the market opened, intense competition was witnessed between buyers and sellers, leading to fluctuations in the index movement. Supported by buying activity, the Sensex climbed 352.49 points, or 0.45 per cent, to reach an intraday high of 78,007.09.
However, selling pressure later dragged the index down by 213.69 points, or 0.28 per cent, to an intraday low of 77,440.91. At the end of the trading session, the Sensex settled 273.55 points higher at 77,928.15.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened almost flat, declining by 0.65 points to 24,249.55. The index witnessed continuous volatility as buyers and sellers attempted to dominate the market trend. With buying support, the Nifty rose 92.75 points, or 0.38 per cent, to touch an intraday high of 24,342.95.
On the other hand, selling pressure pulled the index down by 63.10 points, or 0.26 per cent, to an intraday low of 24,187.10. The Nifty finally closed 66.95 points higher at 24,317.15.
During the day’s trading, automobile sector stocks witnessed strong buying interest, helping the Nifty Auto index close 1.63 per cent higher. IT, consumer durables, metal, oil and gas, and public sector enterprise indices also ended in positive territory.
Meanwhile, realty sector stocks witnessed heavy selling pressure, causing the Realty index to decline by 2.01 per cent. Banking, capital goods, FMCG, and healthcare indices also closed in the red.
The broader market continued to face selling pressure, with the Nifty Midcap index declining 0.35 per cent and the Smallcap index falling 0.56 per cent.
Despite the overall strength in the benchmark indices, continuous selling in the broader market led to a decline of more than Rs 1.64 lakh crore in investors’ wealth. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies fell to Rs 483.13 lakh crore (provisional) after Thursday’s trading, compared to Rs 484.77 lakh crore on the previous trading day, Wednesday.
A total of 4,407 stocks were actively traded on the BSE during the session. Of these, 1,705 shares closed higher, 2,504 declined, and 198 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 2,980 stocks witnessed active trading, with 1,116 shares ending in gains and 1,864 closing with losses.
Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 14 stocks ended higher while 16 closed lower. In the Nifty 50 index, 24 stocks finished in the green, whereas 26 ended in negative territory.
Among the major gainers in the stock market, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 1.92 per cent, Coal India gained 1.74 per cent, Maruti Suzuki advanced 1.72 per cent, Eicher Motors climbed 1.72 per cent, and Tech Mahindra increased 1.51 per cent, making them the top five gainers of the day.
On the other hand, Adani Ports declined 3.23 per cent, HDFC Life fell 2.03 per cent, Shriram Finance dropped 1.68 per cent, UltraTech Cement slipped 1.26 per cent, and Jio Financial Services declined 1.01 per cent, emerging among the top five losers.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
