New Delhi, 12 August (H.S.):

Domestic equity markets closed lower on Wednesday despite a strong recovery in the second half of the trading session, with investors’ wealth declining by more than Rs 1.62 lakh crore. The market remained under pressure from the outset amid renewed tensions in West Asia and a rise in international crude oil prices, a day ahead of the weekly expiry of the Sensex.

The market opened marginally higher but came under sustained selling pressure during the first half of the session. Buying activity picked up after 2 p.m., helping both the Sensex and Nifty recover significantly from their intraday lows. However, the recovery was not strong enough to push either benchmark into positive territory. At the close, the Sensex declined 0.24 per cent, while the Nifty fell 0.15 per cent.

The BSE Sensex opened 109.08 points, or 0.14 per cent, higher at 78,263.33. Selling intensified soon after the opening bell, dragging the index lower. Around noon, the Sensex had fallen 765.40 points from its intraday high to hit a low of 77,497.93, marking a decline of 656.32 points, or 0.84 per cent.

The index remained around these levels for nearly two hours before buying interest emerged after 2 p.m. The subsequent recovery helped the Sensex gain 468.42 points from its intraday low. It eventually closed 187.90 points, or 0.24 per cent, lower at 77,966.35.

The NSE Nifty began the session with a marginal gain of 0.75 points at 24,472.45. It initially edged up to 24,473.30 before selling pressure took over. The index subsequently declined by more than 205 points to an intraday low of 24,265.95.

Buying activity strengthened after 2 p.m., allowing the Nifty to recover around 170 points from its intraday low. Despite the recovery, the index ended 35.75 points, or 0.15 per cent, lower at 24,435.95.

Among sectoral indices, banking and capital goods stocks witnessed buying interest during the session. The public sector enterprise and metal indices also ended in positive territory.

In contrast, IT stocks remained under sustained selling pressure, dragging the Nifty IT index down 1.54 per cent. The FMCG index declined 0.82 per cent, while the healthcare index fell 0.78 per cent. Automobile, consumer durables, and oil and gas stocks also closed lower.

The broader market witnessed mixed trends. The Nifty Midcap index gained 0.28 per cent, while the Smallcap index ended 0.18 per cent lower.

The decline in the benchmark indices resulted in a substantial erosion of investors’ wealth. The total market capitalisation of companies listed on the BSE fell to Rs 492.20 lakh crore on a provisional basis at the end of Wednesday’s trading, compared with Rs 493.82 lakh crore on Tuesday. This represents a decline of approximately Rs 1.62 lakh crore in investors’ wealth in a single session.

A total of 4,525 stocks were actively traded on the BSE. Of these, 1,867 closed higher, while 2,462 declined and 196 remained unchanged.

On the NSE, 3,045 stocks witnessed active trading, with 1,281 advancing and 1,764 declining. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, nine ended in positive territory and 21 closed lower. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 17 gained, 30 declined and three remained unchanged.

Among the major gainers, Hindalco Industries rose 2.80 per cent, Bharti Airtel gained 1.56 per cent, State Bank of India advanced 1.50 per cent, Jio Financial Services climbed 1.31 per cent and UltraTech Cement increased 0.94 per cent.

On the other hand, TCS was the biggest laggard, falling 3.93 per cent. Mphasis declined 3.13 per cent, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises fell 1.75 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra dropped 1.63 per cent and Tata Consumer Products declined 1.49 per cent.

Overall, the session remained volatile as investors weighed renewed geopolitical concerns and higher crude oil prices against late-session buying support. Despite the sharp recovery from the day’s lows, the benchmarks remained in negative territory at the close.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar