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On Thursday, August 13, the Indian stock market continued its decline for the third consecutive trading session. Domestic stock markets started in the red. BSE Sensex fell over 100 points in early trade, while NSE Nifty 50 also slipped to near 24,350 levels. The market was impacted by mixed signals from global markets and selling pressure in shares of some major companies.

During early trading, the 30-share Sensex was trading at 77,863.32 with a decline of 103.03 points or 0.13 percent. Similarly, the 50-share Nifty was down 75.40 points or 0.31 per cent at 24,360.55.

Despite the fall in the market, some shares were bought. According to preliminary data, about 1,258 shares were trading with gains while 815 shares were trading with a decline. About 180 shares remained unchanged. This showed that selective buying continued in the broader market, but weakness in key stocks had a greater impact on the major indices.

The fall in Reliance and Titan had an impact on the index.

One of the main reasons was selling in shares of companies with large market capitalization in early trading. Shares of Reliance Industries were trading at Rs 1,313.90, down about 1.14 per cent. The weakness in the company’s shares had a direct impact on the major indices, because Reliance has a large weightage in the Indian market.

Similarly, shares of Titan Company also fell by about 1.14 percent to Rs 5,041. The initial movement of the market was weak due to selling in other major stocks including Titan. Top Nifty fallers included Grasim Industries, UltraTech Cement and Hindalco Industries. There was a decline of about 2.33 percent in Grasim, about 2.15 percent in UltraTech Cement and about 1.91 percent in Hindalco.

Purchase of shares of Apollo Hospitals and Eternal

Amid widespread selling, buying was seen in shares of some companies. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise was one of the top gainers, rising about 1.65 percent in early trade. The shares of the company had reached the level of around Rs 8,739. Shares of Eternal also registered a rise of about 1.08 percent and were trading around Rs 317.45. Apart from this, shares of Shriram Finance, Tech Mahindra and Mahindra & Mahindra were also in the green in early trade.

This trend showed that the market was not completely sold off and investors were looking for opportunities in strong companies or select stocks that are expected to perform well.

Big decline in pharma and IT sectors

Sectoral indices remained under pressure in most major sectors. Nifty Pharma declined about 0.78 per cent, making it one of the weakest sectoral indices in early trade. Nifty IT also declined by about 0.55 percent. Banking, real estate and infrastructure- indices were also trading in the red, down over 0.40 per cent.

However, Nifty MNC saw marginal rise and was in the green with a rise of around 0.03 per cent. This showed that market performance was uneven regionally and investors continued buying in select areas.