Benchmark indices on Wednesday extend the fall on sixth consecutive session as market failed to build on the mid-session sharp recovery from day’s low, and ended marginally lower.
At close, the Sensex was down 122.52 points or 0.16 per cent at 76,171.08, and the Nifty was down 26.55 points or 0.12 per cent at 23,045.25. Notably, over six consecutive losing sessions, Sensex dropped 2,413 points, or 3 per cent, while the Nifty 50 declined by 694 points or 2.92 per cent.
During the trading session, Nifty index reached a high of 23144.7 and a low of 22798.35 while the Sensex fluctuated within the range of 76459.72 and 75388.39.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined by 0.45 per cent and 0.49 per cent, respectively. The total market capitalization of BSE-listed companies fell to Rs 407.5 lakh crore from Rs 408.5 lakh crore in the previous session.
Among the sectors, except PSU Bank and metal all other sectoral indices ended in the red with realty index down nearly 3 per cent.
Banking, financial services, and metal indices ended higher by up to 0.84 per cent. The Nifty Realty index was the top laggard, settling down by 2.74 per cent. Nifty IT, Auto, FMCG, Pharma, and Healthcare indices ended down by up to 1.14 per cent.
On Nifty, the leading gainers were Bajaj Finserv (2.51 per cent), SBI Life Insurance Company (2.34 per cent), HDFC Life Insurance Company (1.71 per cent), Tata Steel (1.67 per cent), and Shriram Finance (1.60 per cent). On the losing side were Mahindra & Mahindra (3.20 per cent), Eicher Motors (2.47 per cent), Bharat Electronics (2.23 per cent), ITC (2.01 per cent), and Hero Motocorp (1.71 per cent).
Bank Nifty closed at 49403.4, with an intraday high of 49702.35 and a low of 48734.35.
On BSE, over 700 stocks touched their 52-week low. These included Bayer CropScience, Sammaan Capital, Ircon Internation, Godrej Properties, JBM Auto, Whirlpool, DLF, Gujarat Gas, Jio Financial, Delhivery, Honeywell Automation, EIH, Tanla Platforms, Kirloskar Oil, Graphite India, among others.
Among the individual performers, shares of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) jumped nearly 3 per cent to Rs 102.75. Shares of Berger Paints India Ltd rose by 3.5 per cent to Rs 493 despite disappointing Q3 earnings.
Ircon International plunged over 9 per cent to hit a 52-week low of Rs 159.61. The sharp decline followed the company’s poor Q3 earnings.
Despite significant block trades worth Rs 321 crore, shares of Max Healthcare Institute were down by 1 per cent at Rs 1,010, extending a five-day decline to 11.7 per cent.
Selling by FIIs, coupled with mixed earnings, continues to weigh on market sentiment, while uncertain global cues add to the pressure.