Stock market on Monday declined due to sustained foreign investor selling and weaker-than-expected September quarter earnings.

At the close, the Sensex fell by 1.2 per cent or 942 points to 78782.24, while the Nifty dropped 1.27 per cent or 309 points to 23995.35.

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BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were down by 1.3 per cent and 1.65 per cent, respectively.

The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to nearly Rs 442 lakh crore from Rs 448 lakh crore in the previous session.

On Nifty 50, as many as 42 stocks ended with losses. Shares of Hero MotoCorp, Grasim, Bajaj Auto, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and BPCL as the top losers, falling 3-4 per cent.

Mahindra and Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Cipla and SBI ended as the top gainers in the index, rising 1-2 per cent.

The top Gainers on Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra (2 per cent), Tech Mahindra (1.94 per cent), State Bank of India (1.07 per cent), HCL Technologies (0.29 per cent), Infosys (0.19 per cent). On the losing side were Reliance Industries (2.77 per cent), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (2.68 per cent), NTPC (2.59 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (2.44 per cent), Tata Motors (2.31 per cent).

Among the sectors, Nifty Realty, Oil & Gas and Media fell over 2 per cent. While Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, FMCG, Metal, Private Bank and Consumer Durables fell 1 per cent.

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra rose over 2 per cent after the company reported a robust 25 per cent year-on-year surge in SUV sales.

Bajaj Auto shares fell 3.5 per cent as investors reacted to the company’s weak October sales data.

Shares of Hero MotoCorp fell over 4 per cent after the company reported its October sales numbers at 6.79 lakh units, up by 18 per cent YoY.

Tata Power Company fell nearly 4 per cent after CLSA said that the stock has run ahead of its fundamentals, backed by the strength of retail shareholders, who have lapped up power-linked stocks.

On Monday morning, investors’ wealth eroded by Rs 7.37 lakh crore. Equity markets fell sharply with the BSE Sensex tumbling 1,192 points.

Markets were dragged down by Reliance Industries and unabated selling by foreign investors. Investors also turned cautious ahead of the US presidential elections and Federal Reserve interest rate decision scheduled to be announced later this week.

The Indian stock market is witnessing a heavy selloff from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) are also cautious ahead of the major global events this week.

According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 211.93 crore on Friday.

In October, the foreign investors pulled out a massive Rs 94,000 crore (around USD 11.2 billion) from the Indian stock market.