Delhi, 8 October (H.S.): After four consecutive sessions of gains, domestic equity markets turned weak on Wednesday as benchmark indices closed in the red amid profit booking and weak global cues. The day’s trading began on a soft note, with buyers and sellers locked in a tug-of-war that kept market sentiment volatile. At close, the BSE Sensex fell 0.19%, while the NSE Nifty declined 0.25%.
Market analysts attributed the decline to subdued global signals, higher crude oil prices, a spike in the India Volatility Index (VIX), and heavy profit-taking after the recent uptrend. Selling pressure was most visible in automobile, public sector enterprise, and realty stocks, while banking, capital goods, FMCG, healthcare, oil & gas, and metal indices also ended lower.
On the other hand, IT, consumer durables, and technology shares saw selective buying.Broader markets mirrored the weak sentiment as the BSE Midcap Index slipped 0.74%, and the Smallcap Index ended 0.42% lower.₹2.35 Lakh Crore Investor
Wealth Wiped Out
The day’s fall eroded more than ₹2 lakh crore in investor wealth. The market capitalization of companies listed on the BSE dropped to ₹457.88 lakh crore (provisional) from ₹460.23 lakh crore on Tuesday, reflecting a decline of roughly ₹2.35 lakh crore.
Across the BSE, 4,330 stocks were actively traded — 1,740 advanced, 2,435 declined, and 155 remained unchanged. On the NSE, trading activity was seen in 2,801 stocks, out of which 1,118 gained and 1,683 ended lower.
Among Sensex constituents, 9 stocks rose while 21 declined; on the Nifty, 17 advanced and 33 slipped.Volatility Marks Entire Trading SessionThe Sensex opened 27.24 points lower at 81,899.51 and quickly turned positive as early buying lifted it 330.99 points higher to 82,257.74.
However, profit booking dragged it down by more than 611 points to a low of 81,646.08 around noon. Although partial recovery followed, selling pressure returned, leading the Sensex to close 153.09 points down at 81,773.66.
Similarly, the Nifty opened with a 28.55-point drop at 25,079.75, climbed briefly to 25,192.50, but reversed on profit-taking. By late morning, it fell 184 points from the day’s high to touch 25,008.50. Despite intermittent buying, the momentum could not sustain, and the index settled 62.15 points lower at 25,046.15.
Top Gainers and Losers
Among the Sensex heavyweights, Titan Company rose 4.31%, Infosys gained 2.50%, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) climbed 1.80%, HCL Technologies advanced 1.38%, and Tech Mahindra was up 1.34%, ranking among the top five gainers of the day.On the downside, Tata Motors slipped 2.36%, Mahindra & Mahindra lost 1.90%, Jio Financial Services fell 1.69%, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) declined 1.62%, and Trent Limited dropped 1.58%, making them the top losers of Wednesday’s session.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
