Global and Domestic Pressures Impact Trading, Reflecting Divergent Sector Trends
Sensex Closes Lower as Banking Stocks Decline and Realty Gains Lift Markets
On Monday, March 3—the first trading day of the week—the Sensex fell by 112 points to close at 73,085, while the Nifty dropped by 5 points to finish at 22,119. After opening in positive territory, the Sensex reached an intraday high of 73,649 before falling approximately 550 points. Banking and media stocks led the declines, whereas realty stocks recorded gains.
The Nifty Media Index closed down by 1.10%, and the Nifty Bank Index decreased by 0.48%. In contrast, the Nifty Realty Index surged by up to 1.26%, and both the Metal and IT indices rose by more than 1%.
Global Markets and Trading Activity
In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng both rallied by over 1%, while China’s Shanghai Composite climbed by nearly 0.5%. On February 28, foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 11,639 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth Rs 12,308 crore. In the United States, the Dow Jones increased by 1.39% to close at 43,840, the S&P 500 rose by 1.59%, and the Nasdaq Composite surged by 1.63%.
Recap of Friday’s Trading
On Friday, February 28, the Sensex fell sharply by 1,414 points (1.90%) to close at 73,198, and the Nifty declined by 420 points (1.86%) to end at 22,124. The BSE Smallcap Index dropped by 1,028 points (2.33%) to finish at 43,082, while the Midcap Index fell by 853 points (2.16%) to close at 38,592.
Among the 30 constituent stocks of the Sensex, 29 ended in negative territory, with only HDFC Bank posting gains. Similarly, of the 50 stocks in the Nifty, 45 recorded declines, while only 5 registered positive performance.
This mixed performance in the domestic markets reflects both local and global factors, with the downward trend in banking and media stocks partially offset by gains in the realty and technology sectors.
