The domestic share markets opened strong today but soon caution gripped investor sentiment and at the end of the trading session, the benchmark equity indices ended with moderate losses. At the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex fell 0.1 percent and lost 72 points to close at 74,030.
At the National Stock Exchange, Nifty-50 fell 27 points, or 0.12 percent, to settle at 22,471. The broader market indices at the BSE were also in the negative territory. The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.57 percent, the BSE Small-Cap index also fell down 0.48 percent. In the Sensex index, 18 out of 30 companies ended in negative territory. Among the top laggards, Infosys plunged nearly 4.3 percent, Tech Mahindra slipped 2.8 percent, and Nestle dropped more than 2.4 percent. Conversely, among the top gainers, IndusInd Bank rose nearly 4.4 percent, Tata Motors gained almost 3.2 percent, and Kotak Mahindra increased nearly 2.5 percent.
In Sectoral Indices at the BSE, 11 out of 21 sectors ended down. Among the top laggards, Focused Information Technogy sector lost more than three percent, Information Technogy sector slipped 2.95 percent, and Tech fell 2.59 percent. However in the top gainers, Auto gained 0.53 percent, Bankex advanced 0.47 percent and Energy and Financial Services sectors each rose 0.43 percent.
Overall market breadth at the BSE was negative as shares of 2,491 companies declined, 1,494 advanced, and 137 remained unchanged.
At the National Stock Exchange, 20 companies hit their 52-week high, while 234 hit their 52-week low.
Among the Sensex 30 shares, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, up nearly 5 per cent as the bank’s CEO and group chairman tried to soothe investors’ fears. Tata Motors, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance, ITC, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma were the other major gainers – up 1 – 3 per cent each. On the other hand, Infosys plunged over 4 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Nestle India, HCL Technologies, TCS, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Zomato and SBI ended with losses in the range of 1 – 3 per cent. In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and the SmallCap indices closed with losses of around 0.5 per cent each. The overall market breadth too was fairly negative, with nearly 2,500 stocks declining as against near 1,500 advancing stocks on the BSE.