Equity benchmark indices closed flat with a slight positive bias on Tuesday, March 25, extending gains for the seventh straight day. The BSE Sensex opened with a gap-up and surged 757 points in the morning to hit the day’s high at 78,741.69.
However, selling pressure in the afternoon led to a sharp correction, with the 30-share index crashing 724 points from its peak. Eventually, the Sensex closed at 78,017.19, up 32.81 points, or 0.04 per cent from the previous close. The index was weighed down mainly by Reliance Industries (RIL), ICICI Bank and Zomato.
Likewise, Nifty surged 211 points to touch the day’s high at 23,869.60. However, it slipped 200 points from the day’s high to close at 23,668.65, up by a meagre 10.30 points, or 0.04 per cent from the previous close.
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Top Gainers & Losers
Zomato turned out to be the top loser in Sensex today, having fallen 5.79 per cent. It was followed by IndusInd Bank, which fell 4.76 per cent. Adani ports and Mahindra & Mahindra followed, losing between 1-1.5 per cent.
ICICI Bank, which is the second-most weighted stock in Sensex, slipped 1.02 per cent, and Reliance Industries, the third most weighted stock, fell 1.23 per cent.
On the other hand, leading gains in the index, UltraTech Cement rose 3.41 per cent, Bajaj Finserv gained 2.71 per cent, Infosys 2.48 per cent and Axis Bank 1.97 per cent. The highest-weighted HDFC Bank also surged 1.13 per cent.
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IT Bucks The Trend, Emerges Top Gainer
Barring IT, Private Banks and Financial Services, all other sectoral indices posted losses for the day. Nifty IT emerged as the top gainer, having surged 1.32 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said the IT sector saw gains due to positive global factors stemming from expectations of softer tariffs and a recent corrections in valuations of IT stocks.
Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Financial Services just managed to stay afloat in the green.
On the other hand, Metal, Pharma, PSU Bank, Realty, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and Media ended between 1-2 per cent each.
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Why Sensex Crashed 700 Points From Day’s High Today?
According to Ajit Mishra, SVP of Research at Religare Broking, profit booking in heavyweight stocks across sectors erased the morning's gains, leading to a range-bound session. Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments also pointed out that profit booking was evident in the broader market, particularly in small and mid-cap stocks, which are still trading at premium valuations.
Nair added investor sentiment is likely to stay cautious in the near term as they await clarity on trade policy between the US and India. “Meanwhile, attention is shifting towards the quarterly results, which are anticipated to shed light on the recovery in earnings growth. Favourable indicators, such as expected rate cuts and rupee movements, continue to support the market sentiment," he said.
