Selling pressure continued in the stock market due to uncertainties regarding the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and a possible US trade deal. A sharp decline was seen in the market for the second consecutive day. Sensex fell 436 points to close at 84,666, while Nifty fell 120 points to 25,839. Amid this decline, President Donald Trump also hinted at imposing new tariffs on Indian rice, further increasing market concerns.
The biggest Sensex loser was Asian Paints, whose shares fell 4.61% to close at ₹2,790.90. Shares of Tech Mahindra also fell by 1.99%. Other major losers included HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki and Sun Pharma, which fell 1.78%, 1.56%, 1.16% and 1.05% respectively. Five stocks – ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints and Infosys – contributed significantly to the Sensex fall.
Sector-wise, BSE IT index was the biggest contributor to the decline, falling 0.89% to close at 36,843. BSE Auto index also fell 0.63% to close at 60,973.37. There has been a huge decline in the stock market in the last two days. Sensex has fallen 1045 points, while Nifty has fallen 345 points. The market capitalization of BSE, which was ₹470.96 lakh crore two days ago, has now fallen to ₹464.91 lakh crore. This means investors have lost approximately ₹6 lakh crore in the last two days.
162 shares touched lower circuit
Overall, out of 4,331 actively traded shares on BSE, 2,616 shares closed higher, 1,550 closed lower, and 165 remained unchanged. 67 shares touched their 52-week high, while 512 shares touched their 52-week low. Meanwhile, 169 shares touched their upper circuit and 162 shares touched their lower circuit.
Why did the stock market fall?
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, said domestic equity markets opened on a weak note, continuing the recent trend of profit-booking as investors turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy outcome tomorrow. He further said that rupee weakness, continued selling by foreign institutional investors, and uncertainty over the US-India trade deal also weighed on market sentiment.
