Sensex crashes again, down over 3,500 points in 5 days
What's the story
The Indian stock market witnessed yet another major decline today with the Sensex falling over 820 points to trade around 78,390, at the time of writing. Nifty also traded in the red, down 239 points to 23,712. Today's slump is primarily driven by a fall in IT and realty stocks. This is the fifth consecutive decline for the benchmark indices of the Indian stock market. In last five days, the Sensex has dropped over 3,500 points.
Sectoral performance
IT and banking sectors witness significant declines
The Nifty IT index declined by 2%, wiping out all the gains due to profit booking after an initial rise of nearly 1%. Major players including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and Coforge contributed to the decline. The banking sector also took a hit with the Nifty Bank, PSU Bank index, and Realty index each declining by nearly a percent. HDFC Bank, SBI, and ICICI were among the major banks whose stocks plunged.
Resilient sectors
Metal and oil sectors resist market downturn
Unlike the broader market, the Nifty Metal index gained 0.7% on expected easing energy costs. The Nifty Oil and Gas index also gained, led by sharp gains in GAIL, ONGC, and IndianOil Corporation. Energy stocks such as Adani Power and NTPC also gained. These sectors remained resilient amid the broader market fall.
Stock performance
Mid-small cap indices and individual stocks mirror weak trends
The Nifty mid-small cap indices also mirrored the market's weak trends with losses of 0.7% and 0.4% respectively. Ruchit Jain from Motilal Oswal noted that activity in this segment is largely stock-specific, with Q3 earnings expected to shape future trajectory. However, some individual stocks such as General Insurance Corporation of India and MTAR Technologies defied this trend by recording significant gains during Friday's trade.