Closing Bell: Indian market falls for the fifth straight session

In a volatile trading session, buying was witnessed in selected financials, metals and FMCG names while selling was seen in power and realty stocks.

Domestic equity bourses Sensex and Nifty exhibited rugged moves on the monthly expiry day for the February derivatives series. During the day, the Nifty50 index hit a high of 17,620 and a low of 17,455, before ending at 17,511, down 43 points or 0.25 per cent. The 50-share S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, settled at 59,605, falling by 139 points or 0.23 per cent. It hit a high of 59,960 and a low of 59,406 in today's trading.

Top gainers and losers

Top gainers on Thursday were Axis Bank, Tata Motors, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, Sun Pharma, Kotak Bank, and Tata Steel, while Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Titan Company, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, and NTPC were the losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE midcap index slipped 0.4 per cent, while the BSE smallcap index gained 0.06 per cent.

Zee Entertainment in focus

Sector-wise, the Nifty Media index lost 2 per cent amid a drop in Zee Entertainment shares. The stock plummeted 14 per cent to hit a new 52-week low of Rs 176.60 per share on the BSE after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) accepted IndusInd Bank’s insolvency petition against the company and admitted it into the corporate insolvency resolution process.

On the other hand, the Nifty FMCG index finished 0.26 per cent higher. Among the buzzing stocks, ITC hit a new summit at Rs 393.35 on the BSE with heavy volumes.

Stock market highlights

• Shares of Adani Group saw a mixed day with eight stocks ending lower and two higher 

• The market breadth was in favour of declines, as the advance-decline ratio was 4:5. 

• BSE companies lost market cap for the fifth straight session, down over Rs 7 lakh crore in five days.