Delhi, 23 October (H.S.): Indian equity markets surrendered strong opening gains on Thursday, succumbing to a wave of profit-booking in the second half of the session that left benchmark indices with only marginal advances at the close. Despite a robust start that saw the Sensex cross the 85,000 mark and the Nifty breach 26,000 for the first time since September 30, 2024, the indices failed to hold their momentum.

The market began the day with significant optimism. The BSE Sensex opened at 85,154.15 and surged to an intraday high of 85,290.06. However, selling pressure intensified post-noon, dragging the index down nearly 850 points from its peak to a low of 84,445.25 before a last-minute recovery.

The Sensex ultimately closed at 84,556.40, a modest gain of 130.06 points, or 0.15%. Similarly, the NSE Nifty 50 touched an intraday high of 26,104.20 but erased most of its gains to finish at 25,891.40, up just 22.80 points, or 0.09%.Sectoral performance was mixed. The IT and Tech indices were the stars of the day, witnessing strong buying interest.

The Metal, FMCG, and Banking indices also closed in the green. In contrast, the Oil & Gas, Infrastructure, and Pharmaceutical sectors faced persistent selling pressure. The broader market sentiment was weak, with the BSE MidCap index falling by 0.15% and the SmallCap index declining by 0.42%.

This sell-off in mid-and small-cap stocks led to a significant erosion in investor wealth, which fell by over ₹60,000 crore. The total market capitalization of BSE-listed companies decreased to ₹470.28 lakh crore from ₹470.89 lakh crore recorded after the special Diwali Muhurat trading session.

Among the top performers, IT giants led the charge, with Infosys gaining 3.81%, HCL Technologies up 2.55%, and TCS rising 2.21%. On the losing side, InterGlobe Aviation dropped 2.10%, followed by Eicher Motors (1.91%), Bharti Airtel (1.74%), and UltraTech Cement (1.60%).

—————

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar