Stock market update: Sensex up 500 points, Nifty above 21,500

Stock Market Update Today: The benchmark indices were trading higher in the pre-opening session on January 19.

The Sensex was up 1,012.59 points or 1.42 per cent at 72,199.45 and the Nifty was at 21,718.10, up 255.80 points or 1.19 per cent.

The rupee opened at Rs 83.16 against Thursday’s 83.12 per dollar.

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell for the third consecutive day on Thursday due to sustained selling in HDFC Bank and profit-booking in consumer durables and utility stocks.

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The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 71,186.86, down 313.90 points or 0.44 per cent. During the day, it fell 835.26 points or 1.16 percent to 70,665.50.

Nifty fell 109.70 points or 0.51 per cent to 21,462.25. During the day it fell 286.4 points or 1.32 percent to 21,285.55.

The sharp decline in the markets comes on the heels of the recent record-breaking rally. The BSE benchmark hit an all-time high of 73,427.59 on Tuesday, and the Nifty also hit its lifetime peak of 22,124.15 on the same day.

In three days, the Sensex fell 2,141 points or nearly 3 per cent, while the Nifty fell 635 points or 2.89 per cent below the key support level of 21,500.

Among Sensex companies, HDFC Bank declined the most by 3.26 percent. The private lender’s stock fell more than 8 per cent on Wednesday due to weaker-than-expected third quarter results, which contributed 305 points to the decline.

NTPC, Asian Paints, Power Grid, Titan, IndusInd Bank, Nestle and Maruti were the major laggards.

However, gains in Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank and Larsen & Toubro helped reduce losses.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.08 per cent, while the smallcap index gained marginally 0.02 per cent.

Among the indices, consumer durables declined 2.07 per cent, utilities 1.70 per cent, electricity (1.30 per cent), financial services (0.82 per cent) and services (0.58 per cent).

Energy, healthcare, telecom, realty and oil and gas were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Tokyo closed lower while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong closed in positive territory.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. American markets closed with a decline on Wednesday.

According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 10,578.13 crore on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the BSE benchmark fell 1,628.01 points or 2.23 per cent to close at 71,500.76. Nifty closed 460.35 points or 2.09 per cent lower at 21,571.95.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.50 percent to US$78.27 per barrel.

(With PTI inputs)