The Indian stock market witnessed a heavy sell-off on Thursday, May 22, as benchmark indices fell nearly 1 1% amid broad-based selling across sectors.
The BSE Sensex closed at 80,951.99, down 644.64 points or 0.79%, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled at 24,609.70, slipping 203.75 points or 0.82%. The Nifty Bank too bore the brunt, ending the day at 54,941.30, down 0.24%.
Here are six key highlights from today’s turbulent trading session:
Markets reverse gains, End deep in red
The markets took a sharp intraday U-turn on Thursday. The Sensex plunged over 1,100 points during the session, while the Nifty briefly slipped below the 24,500 mark, rattled by a selloff in heavyweights across sectors.
Auto, IT, FMCG stocks take a beating
All major sectoral indices ended in the red, with Auto, IT, and FMCG being the worst hit.
Auto laggards included M&M, Tata Motors, Maruti, Ashok Leyland, and Exide Industries, all slipping over 1%.
In the IT pack, all 10 Nifty IT stocks ended lower, led by a 2% fall in Tech Mahindra, followed by Wipro, Persistent Systems, TCS, and Infosys.
The FMCG sector saw deep cuts too, with Colgate-Palmolive plunging 6%. Others like Varun Beverages, Marico, United Breweries, and ITC also lost ground.
Top gainers of the day
A few stocks managed to stay afloat. In the Sensex-30 pack, only IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, managed to close in the green.
Top laggards of the day
The list of top underperformers was long, with several blue-chip stocks facing heavy selling. Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, and NTPC were among the biggest drags on the benchmark indices.
Sectoral performance: Shipping shines, Retail sinks
While most sectors declined, a few pockets of strength emerged. Shipping stocks surged 4%, buoyed by positive cues. Other gainers included the plastic products, containers & packaging, media & entertainment, and footwear sectors, with gains ranging from 0.5% to 1.5%.
On the flip side, the retail sector bore the brunt of the selling, falling over 4.5%. Photographic products, oil & gas, and FMCG also saw notable declines.
Best and worst performing business groups of the day
A sharp jump was seen in the Jaipuria Group, whose market capitalisation surged by 17.02%. Meanwhile, the Pennar Group also recorded a healthy rise of 3.12% in market cap. The Manipal Group followed closely with a 2.42% uptick in market cap. Other notable groups included the Essel Group, which saw a 1.91% gain in market cap while the GMR Group, the largest among them, registered a 1.74% rise.
On the flip side Aditya Birla Group, one of India’s biggest conglomerates, saw the steepest fall among major players, with its market cap slipping 2.95%. Essar Group followed with a 2.6% drop. Among other laggards, Oswal Group’s market cap fell 2.55%, while Jindal BC Group lost 2.52%. Meanwhile, Lakshmi Group (Coimbatore) declined by 2.11%.