Market Reverses Early Morning Gains as Profit Booking Takes Over
Indian benchmark indices ended Tuesday’s trading session on a volatile note, surrendering initial morning gains to close sharply lower. The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by more than 329 points to settle at 74,529, while the broader NSE Nifty 50 slipped over 80 points to close at 23,329. The markets had opened on a positive note during early trade, taking favorable cues from overnight gains on Wall Street and firm Asian indices. The Sensex had initially surged past 74,950, while Nifty traded above 23,450 before heavy selling in key heavyweights dragged the indices into the red.
Top Gainers and Losers in Today’s Market Session
Market participation showed mixed sentiment across major sectors, with stock-specific action dominating the trading floor. Within the 30-share Sensex basket, consumer and metal stocks managed to post modest gains despite overall market pressure. Eternal (Zomato), IndiGo, Titan Company, Tata Steel, and NTPC emerged as the leading gainers. Conversely, heavyweights in the banking and IT sectors led the downward slide. Shares of Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), ICICI Bank, and PowerGrid were among the top laggards, exerting maximum downward pressure on the benchmark indices.
Sectoral Indices and Broader Market Performance
Sector-wise movement reflected selective buying and profit-taking across capitalization segments. The Nifty IT index experienced notable selling pressure, declining by 0.86% as investors remained cautious over global tech demand. On the other hand, the Nifty Media index surged 1.21%, bucking the broader market trend. In the broader market space, performance remained mixed as the Nifty Smallcap 50 index declined 0.44%, while the Nifty Microcap 250 managed a slight gain of 0.41%. Overall market volatility subsided slightly over the session, allowing selective stock picking in mid and micro-cap counters.
Global Cues, Crude Oil Volatility, and Market Liquidity
Globally, key equity indices presented a positive backdrop during early Asian hours. Markets in South Korea (Kospi), Shanghai (SSE Composite), and Hong Kong (Hang Seng) traded in green, taking cues from a strong Wall Street rally overnight. In the commodities market, Brent crude oil prices rose 0.80% to trade around $101.10 per barrel. Market experts pointed out that cooling US bond yields had temporarily supported risk-on sentiment globally. Experts also noted that post the completion of the NSE IPO, liquidity in the domestic secondary market is expected to improve significantly as refund money flows back to institutional and retail investors.
Institutional Cash Flows: FIIs Extend Selling Spree
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the Indian capital market. Institutional data revealed that FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 576.20 crore on Monday. Despite foreign fund outflows, domestic markets had managed to record a four-day winning streak in previous sessions, with the Sensex jumping over 564 points and Nifty closing at 23,414 on Monday. However, persistent FII selling pressure coupled with elevated crude oil prices eventually halted the rally on Tuesday, forcing benchmark indices to give up recent gains.
