New Delhi, September 19 (HS): Profit-booking, weak global trends, and a softer rupee halted the three-day rally in domestic equities on Friday, with both the Sensex and Nifty closing in the red. The market opened on a subdued note and remained under selling pressure through the first half of the session. Although some buying emerged post-lunch, the benchmarks continued to trade weak and ended with losses. The Sensex declined 0.47 percent, while the Nifty slipped 0.38 percent by close.
Despite the overall weakness, small-cap stocks saw renewed investor interest, helping lift wealth creation. Market capitalization of BSE-listed firms rose by over ₹76,000 crore, ending the day at an estimated ₹466.49 lakh crore, compared to ₹465.73 lakh crore on Thursday.
Sectoral and Broader Market Trends
Buying was witnessed in energy, metals, realty, and pharmaceuticals, while oil & gas, public sector enterprises, capital goods, and technology indices also finished higher. Conversely, banking, IT, automobiles, consumer durables, and FMCG counters faced selling pressure. The BSE Midcap index closed marginally lower by 0.09 percent, while the Smallcap index gained 0.16 percent.
On the BSE, 4,316 stocks were actively traded; 2,131 advanced, 2,003 declined, and 182 ended unchanged. On the NSE, of the 2,774 stocks traded, 1,356 closed higher and 1,418 declined. Within the Sensex, 11 constituents ended in the green, while 19 slipped. In the Nifty pack, 21 stocks advanced as 29 declined.
Market Movement
The Sensex opened weaker at 82,946.04 points, down 67.92, and extended losses through the morning. Heavy selling dragged it down to 82,485.92 by noon, a drop of 528 points. Subsequent buying provided some respite, but the index still settled 387.73 points lower at 82,626.23.
The NSE Nifty started softer at 25,410.20, down 13.40, but briefly edged higher to 25,428.75 on early buying support. Selling pressure returned by noon, pushing the index down to 25,286.30. Though selective buying trimmed losses later in the session, renewed sell-offs in the final hour dragged it down again. The Nifty finally closed at 25,327.05, down 96.55 points.
Top Gainers and Losers
Among heavyweights, Adani Enterprises surged 5.08 percent, followed by IndusInd Bank (1.22%), Bharti Airtel (1.10%), SBI Life Insurance (1.09%), and Adani Ports (1.06%), leading the list of top gainers. On the flip side, HCL Technologies fell 1.77 percent, Mahindra & Mahindra slipped 1.38 percent, ICICI Bank was down 1.37 percent, Titan Company lost 1.26 percent, and Trent Ltd shed 1.24 percent, making them the top laggards of the session.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
