Market Wrap, Sept 24: NIFTY50 ends at 25,056, SENSEX down 396 points as auto, realty stocks weigh; Tata Motors leads losses

The Indian equity benchmark indices settled lower for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, September 24, dragged down by the auto and realty sectors amid weak global cues and continued outflow by the foreign investors. Concerns over the steep hike in US H-1B visa fees also continue to worry the market participants.

Led by a decline in Samvardhana Motherson International (-3.77%), Bharat Forge (-3.12%), and Balkrishna Industries (-3.07%), the auto sector slipped amid profit booking pressures.

Meanwhile, the FMCG sector ended in the green, driven by gains in Hindustan Unilever (up 1.36%), Nestle India (up 0.84%), and Tata Consumer Products (up 0.80%).

According to exchange data, on Tuesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹3,551.19 crore on a net basis, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased ₹2,670.87 crore worth of equities.

Globally, indices in Asia rebounded on Wednesday, recovering from earlier Wall Street-driven losses as renewed optimism around artificial intelligence and semiconductors reignited momentum in China’s tech-led rally.

Singapore's Straits Times declined 0.29%, and South Korea's KOSPI dropped 0.40%. While Japan's Nikkei rose 0.12%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.60%, and China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.83%.

On Wall Street, the main indices snapped their three-day winning streak on Tuesday as investors resorted to profit booking in recent outperforming shares from the big tech space.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 88.76 points, or 0.19%, to close at 46,292.78; the S&P 500 fell 36.83 points, or 0.55%, to end at 6,656.92; and the Nasdaq Composite declined 215.50 points, or 0.95%, to settle at 22,573.47.

As many as 3,134 stocks traded on the NSE on Wednesday. Out of this, 993 advanced and 2,056 stocks declined, while 85 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of declines.

A total of 97 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 53 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 84 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 63 touched their lower circuit bands on Wednesday.

The market capitalisation of NSE-listed firms stood at ₹457.22 lakh crore at the close of the session, marking a decline of ₹3.02 lakh crore from the previous day.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 10.52 levels, slipping 0.96%.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index tumbled 0.67% to end at 18,069.55 levels, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at the 57,924.45 level, losing 0.98%.

Tata Motors was the biggest laggard, declining 2.62%, followed by Bharat Electronics (-2.16%), Jio Financial Services (-2.02%), Adani Enterprises (-1.96%) and Wipro (-1.9%).

On the flip side, Power Grid (1.68%), Hindustan Unilever (1.36%), NTPC (1.31%), Maruti Suzuki (0.98%) and JSW Steel (0.93%) were the biggest gainers on the 50-share index.