12 hours Ago
Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI) Benchmark BSE Sensex reversed its early gains to close lower by 200 points on Thursday, marking its fifth straight session of losses due to selling in realty, IT and auto counters. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 200.85 points or 0.
27 per cent to close at 73,828.91 with 22 of its constituents ending lower and eight with gains. The index opened higher and hit a high of 74,401.
11 in the late morning session. However, it failed to hold onto gains due to persistent selling in select bluechips and shed 259.17 points or 0.
35 per cent to hit a low of 73,770.59 later. The NSE Nifty fell 73.
30 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 22,397.20.
In the session, the benchmark declined by 93.15 points or 0.41 per cent to hit an intraday low of 22,377.
35. Zomato, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki India, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement and Infosys were the major losers among Sensex shares. In contrast, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services, PowerGrid, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Sun Pharmaceuticals were the gainers.
"Shortened trading week and sell-off in the US short market are providing a hiccup to the global market. However, India is withstanding with resilience and healthy outperformance, by a narrow negative trend," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said. Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said, "On the weekly expiry day, markets remained range-bound and closed slightly lower.
While positive global cues initially drove an uptick, selling pressure in heavyweight stocks across sectors pulled the Nifty into the red." In broader markets, the BSE smallcap gauge fell 0.62 per cent, while midcap index declined 0.
77 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, Realty, Auto, Consumer Discretionary, Metal, Services, Commodities, Consumer Durables, Teck, IT, Focussed IT, Energy were among the laggards. Bankex and Power were the gainers.
As many as 2,457 stocks declined while 1,518 advanced and 130 remained unchanged on the BSE. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms declined by Rs 1,71,623.67 crore to Rs 3,91,12,994.
41 crore (USD 4.49 trillion). "The moderating inflation and uptick in GDP numbers failed to cheer investors, as markets ended weak in late selling pressure with mixed European and Asian cues coupled with FII selling dominating the mood.
"Investors are nervous about the likely imposition of tariffs on Indian goods by the Trump administration and its overall impact going ahead, hence caution with a negative bias could prevail for some more time," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said. According to Kotak Securities' VP-technical Research Amol Athawale, during the week, the benchmark indices witnessed range-bound activity. After a roller-coaster week, the Nifty ended 0.
69 percent lower, while the Sensex was down by 500 points. Shares of PB Fintech, parent entity of Policybazaar, extended the losses for second straight session, by declining more than 5 per cent to close at Rs 1,327.80, a day after the company proposed to infuse Rs 696 crore in its healthcare arm, a move that failed to cheer investors.
On the other hand, MTNL's stock rallied more than 12 per cent to close a Rs 48.78 after the government said in the Parliament that state-owned telecom firm has earned Rs 2,134.61 crore till January 2025 from monetisation of lands and buildings.
During the day, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) scrip skyrocketed to more than 18 per cent to hit a intraday high of Rs 51.30 apiece. In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul settled lower.
European markets were trading higher in the mid-session deals. US markets closed on a positive note on Wednesday. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent Crude traded 0.
34 per cent lower at USD 70.71 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,627.
61 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 1,510.35 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Stock and money markets will remained closed on Friday for the Holi festival.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI).
