New Delhi, September 18 (HS): The domestic stock market closed with strong gains for the third consecutive session on Thursday, buoyed by global optimism following the US Federal Reserve’s rate cut. Despite mid-session volatility triggered by foreign investors’ selling, a weaker rupee, and profit-booking at higher levels, late-hour buying helped both Sensex and Nifty finish firmly in positive territory.
At close, the BSE Sensex ended 0.39 percent higher at 83,013.96 points, while the NSE Nifty settled 0.37 percent up at 25,423.60 points. Investor wealth surged by more than ₹1 lakh crore as the overall market capitalization of BSE-listed companies rose to ₹465.80 lakh crore (provisional) from ₹464.79 lakh crore on Wednesday, marking a single-day addition of ₹1.01 lakh crore.
Sectoral and Market Performance
Buying interest was visible across IT, pharmaceuticals, and banking counters. Auto, FMCG, metals, oil & gas, and technology stocks also supported the rally. However, indices for realty, capital goods, consumer durables, and public sector enterprises ended lower.
The broader market showed a mixed trend. The BSE Midcap index gained 0.36 percent, whereas the Smallcap index dipped marginally by 0.01 percent.
On the BSE, 4,342 stocks were actively traded; of these, 2,191 advanced, 1,985 declined, and 166 remained unchanged. At the NSE, 2,776 stocks saw active trading, with 1,340 closing higher and 1,436 ending in the red. Among Sensex constituents, 21 shares advanced and 9 declined, while in the Nifty, 34 stocks ended positive and 16 in the negative zone.
Intraday Movements
The Sensex opened on a strong note at 83,108.92, up 415.21 points, and soon scaled an intraday high of 83,141.21. However, heavy selling pressure around mid-session dragged the index down by more than 435 points to touch the day’s low of 82,704.92 by 2:30 pm. Fresh buying in the last hour helped the index stage a smart recovery, closing with a gain of 320.25 points at 83,013.96.
Similarly, the Nifty jumped 110.80 points at the open to 25,441.05. While it briefly slipped into negative territory around 2:30 pm, touching 25,329.75, late trade buying lifted it back up. The index eventually ended with a gain of 93.35 points at 25,423.60, after touching a high of 25,448.95 during the day.
Top Gainers and Losers
Among the major Sensex and Nifty gainers were:
-Eternal Ventures (+2.92%)
-HDFC Life Insurance (+2.15%)
-Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (+1.75%)
-Infosys (+1.20%)
-Cipla (+1.19%)
In contrast, top laggards included:
-Coal India (−1.65%)
-Tata Motors (−1.11%)
-Bajaj Finance (−1.09%)
-Trent Ltd. (−1.03%)
-UltraTech Cement (−0.75%)
The sustained upward momentum over the past three sessions has kept investor sentiment buoyant, with expectations that the global rate-cut cycle could further support Indian equities in the near term.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
