Equity benchmark indices reversed early gains and traded in negative territory intraday as investors sentiment was cautious amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and US President Donald Trump’s warning of “unconditional surrender” to Iran.
Sensex traded 214.51 pts or 0.26 per cent lower at 81,368.79 as at 1.20 pm, hitting an intraday low of 81,267.96. Nifty 50 dropped 60.40 pts or 0.24 per cent to 24,793.
Both midcap and smallcap indexes traded in the negative range, down 0.52 per cent and 0.34 per cent, respectively. India VIX declined 1.18 per cent to 14.23.
On sectoral front, auto and consumer durables traded with marginal gains, while banking stocks staged resilience. Media, metal, oil & gas and IT dragged.
Top gainers, losers today
Shares of IndusInd Bank, Trent, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra and Eicher Motors led the gainers of Nifty 50, while Adani Ports, Nestle India, Adani Enterprises, TCS and Hindustan Unilever traded as major laggards.
IndusInd surged close to 5 per cent, leading the pack of Nifty 50, while Trent, Maruti, M&M and Eicher Motors rose over 1 per cent.
Only 960 stocks advanced and 1,738 declined of all the 2,772 stocks that were traded on the National Stock Exchange at the time of writing.
In the midcap basket, Escorts, Bandhan Bank, Paytm and Federal Bank soared 2-4 per cent. Hindustan Zinc tanked 6 per cent as promoter Vedanta offloaded shares. Policy Bazaar, Max Health, Waaree Energies and Biocon depreciated 2-3 per cent.
Among smallcap, Radico, Delhivery, GRSE and Sagility gained about 2 per cent, while IKS, Reliance Power, Tata Tele Services, IGIL and Ramco Cements fell 3-8 per cent.
AU Small Finance, MCX, Max Financial, Aditya Birla Capital and Navin Fluorine were among 42 stocks that hit 52-week high, while Aditya Vision and Easy Trip Planners were among 19 stocks that hit 52-week low. Laxmi Goldorna House and 59 other stocks hit the upper circuit, while Sky Gold and 59 others hit the lower circuit.
On the BSE, Electronics Mart, Zydus Wellness, IndusInd, Sansera and Jamna Auto zoomed 4-15 per cent.
Meanwhile, Orient Cement tumbled 18 per cent. STL Tech, Hindustan Zinc and CONCORD Biotech followed with 3-6 per cent fall.