Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 19 : The Indian stock market on Thursday ended on a weak note amid selling across the sectors with Nifty closing around 25,450.
At the time of closing, the Sensex was down 1,236.11 points or 1.48 per cent at 82,498.14 while the Nifty was down 365 points or 1.41 per cent at 25,454.35.
Around 1248 shares advanced, 2790 shares declined, and 149 shares unchanged.
Among the sectors, almost all the indices ended in the red. Heavy losses of around 2 per cent were recorded by some of the key indices including Realty, Auto, Power, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables among others.
At the time of opening, the market opened on a positive note supported by foreign inflows and continued buying interest from domestic investors. The Nifty 50 index opened at 25,873.35 with a gain of 54 points or 0.21 per cent, while the BSE Sensex opened at 83,969.82 with a gain of 235.57 points or 0.28 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited said, "The bears took charge of the Indian market as rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran unsettled global sentiment leading to a broad based sell-off. Brent crude surged to its YTD high, exacerbating inflationary concerns and triggering heightened market volatility on fear of bottlenecking of Strait of Hormuz."
"At the same time uncertainty surrounding the US Fed's rate-cut trajectory and continued weakness in the INR impacted the domestic market. Sell-off intensified due to low FII participation because of Lunar New Year holiday across key Asian markets and a non-settlement day on account of a regional banking holiday in India," he added.
Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said, "Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp decline today amid broad-based selling across sectors, mirroring weakness in global equities. Heightened uncertainty surrounding the outcome of US-Iran negotiations has amplified concerns over the risk of a potential military escalation, raising the prospect of a wider Middle East conflict and weighing heavily on investor sentiment."
"Elevated index valuations at higher levels further encouraged institutional distribution rather than aggressive accumulation, adding to the downside pressure. Weakness across key large-cap segments dragged the broader indices lower, reflecting a clear shift in market tonefrom momentum-driven buying to a more defensive, capital-preservation stance."
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