Market Wrap, Nov 18: NIFTY50 ends at 25,910, SENSEX drops 278 points as metal, IT stocks weigh; Nifty Smallcap 100 underperforms

Snapping a six-day winning streak, the Indian stock market closed lower on Tuesday, November 18, weighed down by declines in IT, metal, and realty stocks. Weak global cues further dampened investor sentiment.

However, investors were also cautious after a government official indicated that the first phase of the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) is nearing completion and is expected to address the steep 50% tariffs imposed on Indian goods during the Trump administration.

In the broader market, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index underperformed the benchmark indices, pressured by sharp declines in Kaynes Technology (-5.56%), International Gemmological Institute (-4.93%), and Inox Wind (-3.67%).

Metal stocks also fell, led by declines in Hindustan Copper (-2.53%), Vedanta (-2.12%), and SAIL (-1.9%), as a stronger dollar dampened base metal prices.

According to exchange data, on Monday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹442.17 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,465.86 crore on a net basis.

Globally, all major Asian indices ended lower, mirroring the decline in US markets, as investors turned cautious ahead of Nvidia Corp.’s earnings and a key US jobs report due later this week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.83%, and South Korea's KOSPI was down 3.43%, while China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.82%, and Japan's Nikkei closed 3.01% lower.

The US stock market sank Monday as Nvidia and other superstars created by the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology dimmed some more.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9% and pulled further from its all-time high set late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 557 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite sank 0.8%.

Here are the key developments of Tuesday’s session that you need to know

As many as 3,214 stocks traded on the NSE on Tuesday. Out of this, 969 advanced and 2,168 declined, while 77 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is favourable towards declines.

A total of 69 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 150 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 79 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 81 touched their lower circuit bands on Tuesday.

The market capitalisation of NSE-listed companies declined by ₹2.14 lakh crore, falling to ₹472.20 lakh crore by the end of the session.

The volatility index India VIX rose 2.6% to close at 12.10 levels.

The broader market underperformed, with the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index falling 1.05% to 18,154.75, while the NIFTY Midcap 100 dipped 0.59% to close at 60,822.

All sectoral indices ended in the red, with Nifty Realty emerging as the biggest loser, down 1.91%. It was followed by Nifty IT (-1.1%), Nifty Metal (-1.07%), Nifty Pharma (-0.67%), and Nifty FMCG (-0.56%).

Tata Consumer Products was the biggest laggard, slumping 2.28%, followed by Tech Mahindra (-2.21%), Jio Financial Services (-1.99%), IndiGo (-1.95%) and Eternal (-1.63%).

On the contrary, Bharti Airtel (1.6%), Axis Bank (1.07%), Asian Paints (0.65%), Shriram Finance (0.62%), Titan Company (0.42%), Maruti Suzuki (0.26%), Power Grid of India (0.22%) and Reliance Industries (0.11%) were the only gainers on the 50-share index.