New Delhi, July 22 (HS): The domestic stock market closed with minor weakness, as pressures led to fluctuating performance throughout the day. Despite a strong start, backed by buying support causing Nifty and Sensex to rise initially, selling pressure later ensued, leading both indices into negative territory. Ultimately, the Sensex decreased by 0.02 percent while Nifty fell by 0.12 percent. All sectoral indices displayed weakness, with notable declines in PSU banks, pharmaceuticals, and real estate stocks. Additional sectors such as IT, infrastructure, automobiles, public sector enterprises, capital goods, consumer durables, FMCG, oil and gas, and tech indices also showed declines.

The broader market reflected this selling pressure, with the BSE mid-cap index closing down by 0.62 percent and the small-cap index declining by 0.17 percent. Investors’ total wealth declined by over ₹1.25 lakh crore today, with market capitalization on the BSE dropping to ₹458.50 lakh crore from ₹459.89 lakh crore the previous trading day, resulting in an approximate loss of ₹1.39 lakh crore.

On the BSE, 4,198 shares were actively traded, 1,784 of which closed higher, while 2,236 fell, and 178 remained unchanged. On the NSE, among 2,665 actively traded shares, 1,135 gained and 1,530 declined. Among the 30 stocks in Sensex, 12 closed higher, while 18 were lower. For Nifty, 18 closed up and 32 down.

The Sensex opened at 82,527.43 points, gaining initially before declining more than 425 points from its peak, ultimately closing at 82,186.81 points. Similarly, Nifty opened at 25,166.65 points, experienced an early spike, followed by a decline, and closed down at 25,060.90 points. Among top gainers were Eternal (10.34%) and HDFC Life (1.46%), whereas Shriram Finance (-2.36%) and Eicher Motors (-2.13%) were among the top losers.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar