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

The domestic equity market ended on a firm note on Thursday despite witnessing sharp volatility throughout the trading session. On the weekly expiry day for the Sensex derivatives, the market traded with strong momentum for most of the day, although intense selling pressure during the final half hour significantly trimmed the gains. At the close, the BSE Sensex settled 0.31 per cent higher, while the NSE Nifty advanced 0.34 per cent.

Realty, media, and consumer durables stocks witnessed robust buying throughout the session. Banking, capital goods, FMCG, healthcare, metals, and public sector enterprise indices also ended in positive territory. On the other hand, information technology and automobile stocks remained under selling pressure.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices, with the Nifty Midcap Index closing 1.38 per cent higher and the Nifty Smallcap Index gaining 1.80 per cent.

The day's rally added more than Rs 5.5 lakh crore to investors' wealth. The total market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE rose to Rs 476.35 lakh crore (provisional) at the close of trade, compared with Rs 470.68 lakh crore in the previous session on Wednesday. As a result, investors' wealth increased by approximately Rs 5.67 lakh crore during the day.

A total of 4,416 stocks were actively traded on the BSE, of which 2,915 advanced, 1,323 declined, and 178 remained unchanged. On the NSE, 2,989 stocks were actively traded, with 2,282 closing in the green and 707 ending lower. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 20 stocks gained while 10 declined. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 30 ended higher and 20 closed in negative territory.

The BSE Sensex opened 72.54 points higher at 76,576.14. Strong buying interest immediately after the opening pushed the benchmark sharply higher, and by around 10:30 a.m., it had surged 823.05 points to touch the day's high of 77,326.65. Thereafter, the index traded with moderate fluctuations for most of the session.

Shortly before 3:00 p.m., heavy selling pressure emerged, dragging the Sensex down by 679.60 points from its intraday high to 76,647.08. However, late buying during intraday settlement helped the index recover 94.74 points from that level, allowing it to close 238.22 points higher at 76,741.82.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 46.90 points higher at 23,928.95. Strong buying across sectors lifted the index to an intraday high of 24,134.70 by around 10:30 a.m., representing a gain of 252.65 points. Profit-booking later in the day triggered intermittent selling, causing fluctuations in the benchmark. Eventually, the Nifty ended the session 80.75 points higher at 23,962.80, after retreating by more than 170 points from its intraday peak.

Among the blue-chip stocks, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries emerged as the top gainer with a rise of 2.67 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel (2.28 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (2.16 per cent), InterGlobe Aviation (2.06 per cent), and Eternal (2.01 per cent).

On the downside, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories was the biggest loser, declining 5.89 per cent. It was followed by Infosys (1.73 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.60 per cent), NTPC (1.43 per cent), and ONGC (1.36 per cent).

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar