Indian equity benchmarks ended in red on August 19, extending their decline for the seventh consecutive session as investors remained cautious amid elevated crude oil prices, rising global bond yields and continued geopolitical risks.
The Nifty 50 and Sensex started the session on a weak note and slipped below the 24,050 and 77,000 levels, respectively, as selling intensified across several sectors. Defence and energy stocks were among the major laggards, while gains in IT shares offered some support and helped contain the broader market decline.
The 30-share benchmark index ended at 76909.68 down by -325.78 points or by -0.42 % and then NSE Nifty was at 24078.3 down by -76.6 points or by -0.32 %.
Sensex touched intraday high of 77347.81 and intraday low of 76822.89 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 24172.85 and intraday low of 24025.65
The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were HCL Technologies Ltd. (Rs. 1322.50,+1.73%), Eternal Ltd. (Rs. 320.20,+1.33%), Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (Rs. 392.05,+1.23%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1898.00,+1.15%), Titan Company Ltd. (Rs. 5064.00,+0.27%), among others.
The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (Rs. 262.45,-2.00%), Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 1078.60,-1.31%), Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (Rs. 4030.10,-1.27%), ITC Ltd. (Rs. 266.90,-1.18%), Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (Rs. 2016.00,-0.98%), among others.
IT index was at 29184.16 up by 78.43 points or by 0.27%. Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services Ltd. (Rs. 186.00,+12.15%), D-Link (India) Ltd. (Rs. 446.40,+6.58%), 63 Moons Technologies Ltd. (Rs. 790.60,+4.48%), Cyient Ltd. (Rs. 895.00,+4.34%), GNG Electronics Ltd. (Rs. 590.00,+3.29%),.
Power index was at 7471.72 down by -128.08 points or by -1.69%. Hitachi Energy India Ltd. (Rs. 33550.00,-4.74%), CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. (Rs. 862.90,-3.47%), Siemens Energy India Ltd. (Rs. 3487.00,-2.84%), ABB India Ltd. (Rs. 7400.00,-2.11%), Suzlon Energy Ltd. (Rs. 46.78,-2.11%),.
The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 4754 , shares advanced were 1910 while 2612 shares declined and 232 were unchanged.