The Indian stock market reeled under selling pressure, with frontline indices, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, ending lower for the second consecutive session.
Meanwhile, second-rung mid and small-cap indices suffered deeper cuts of over a per cent each on Thursday, November 6.
The Sensex dropped 148 points, or 0.18 per cent, to close at 83,311, while the Nifty 50 ended with a loss of 88 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 25,509.70. The BSE Midcap index fell 1.19 per cent, while the BSE Smallcap index crashed 1.53 per cent.
The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to below ₹466 lakh crore from nearly ₹470 lakh crore, making investors lose about ₹4 lakh crore in a single session.
Indian stock market: 10 key highlights from the day
1. What drove the Indian stock market down today?
The domestic market suffered losses due to profit booking as continuous foreign capital outflow, a lack of fresh domestic triggers, and mixed Q2 results continue to weigh on sentiment.
The market is discounting earnings recovery from Q3 onwards, but uncertainties over US tariffs and their economic fallout keep investors cautious.
“Volatility dominated the domestic market, with broad-based profit booking seen amid continued FII outflows, despite a supportive Asian market. Early optimism from the inclusion of four Indian companies in the MSCI Global Standard Index and strong U.S. macro data was offset by weak domestic PMI readings, indicating softening sentiment,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, noted.
2. Top gainers in the Nifty 50 index today
Shares of Asian Paints (up 4.64 per cent), Reliance Industries (up 1.47 per cent), and UltraTech Cement (up 1.04 per cent) ended as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index.
3. Top losers in the Nifty 50 index
Shares of Grasim Industries (down 6.42 per cent), Hindalco Industries (down 5.39 per cent), and Adani Enterprises (down 4.50 per cent) ended as the top losers in the Nifty 50. As many as 33 stocks ended lower in the index.
4. Sectoral indices today
Only Nifty IT (up 0.18 per cent) and Auto (up 0.06 per cent) managed to end in the green, even though gains were modest.
Nifty Media (down 2.54 per cent), Metal (down 2.07 per cent), Consumer Durables (down 1.98 per cent), and Realty (down 1.51 per cent) ended with deep losses. Nifty Bank fell 0.47 per cent.
“Most sectors traded lower, though IT stocks remained resilient, supported by in-line earnings and improvement in US macro data,” said Nair.
5. Most active stocks in terms of volume
Vodafone Idea (73.14 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (14.72 crore shares), and Easy Trip Planners (11.92 crore shares) were the most active stocks in terms of volume on the NSE.
6. 10 stocks jump over 15% on BSE
Maruti Interior Products, NPR Finance, Trade Wings, Libord Finance, SBL Infratech, and Redington were among the 10 stocks that jumped over 15 per cent on the BSE.
7. Advance-decline ratio
Out of 4,353 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,202 advanced, while 3,012 declined. Some 139 stocks remained unchanged.
8. Over 120 stocks hit 52-week highs
SBI, Titan Company, BPCL, and AU Small Finance Bank were among 124 stocks that hit their 52-week highs in intraday trade on the BSE.
9. More than 170 stocks hit 52-week lows
Deepak Nitrite, Clean Science and Technology, Cohance Lifesciences, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Godrej Agrovet, Jindal Saw, KNR Constructions, Maharashtra Seamless, Tejas Networks, and Vedant Fashions were among the 173 stocks that fell to their 52-week lows.
10. Nifty’s technical outlook
Nilesh Jain, the head technical and derivatives equity research analyst at Centrum Broking, pointed out that the index slipped below its immediate support at the 21-DMA, placed around 25,600, which will now act as a key resistance.
“Momentum indicators and oscillators have turned bearish with a sell crossover, suggesting that short-term weakness is likely to persist and any pullbacks may attract selling pressure,” said Jain.
“On the upside, a move above 25,800 would be needed to negate the bearish setup, while immediate support is seen near 25,350, which is the 50% retracement level of the October series rally,” Jain said.
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, underscored that the Nifty slipped below the critical 21EMA on the daily timeframe, indicating weakness. However, the index has declined towards the support of the previous swing high, placed around 25,450.
“Going forward, if the index falls below 25,450, the short-term trend might weaken further. On the other hand, if it holds above 25,450, a significant trend reversal might occur,” said De.