The domestic market indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 endured losses for the third consecutive day on Thursday, 20 January and ended in red. Nifty slid 1.01 percent to 17,757.00 while Sensex slumped 1.06 percent to 59,464.62. The last three trading sessions have seen the Sensex fall by about 2200 points. The three-day decline in the Sensex and Nifty has taken a heavy toll on investors. As per reports, investors have suffered losses of Rs 7.4 lakh crore in just three days. The market capitalization on the BSE index was Rs 2,80,02,437.71 on January 17, which dropped to Rs 2,73,27,616.15 on January 20.
Among the bluechip names, Power Grid was the top gainer, rising 4.81 per cent. Bharti Airtel, Grasim Industries, JSW Steel, Tata Consumer, Britannia Industries and Asian Paints were other gainers. Bajaj Finserv was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 4.58 per cent. Bajaj Auto, Divi’s Labs, Infosys, TCS, Sun Pharma, ONGC, HUL, Dr Reddy’s Labs, HDFC and IndusInd Bank were other stocks that ended in the red. Experts believe that there are two main reasons for the decline in the stock market. The first reason is that the stock market has been at record levels for a long time. In this case, investors are withdrawing their money. The market is closing with a red flag due to profit making. On the other hand, experts are also pointing out the rise in crude oil prices in the international market as another reason. Market breadth was in favour of gainers as 1,745 stocks ended in the green, while 1,663 names settled with cuts. As many as 342 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 15 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 420 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 320 lower circuit limits.