Domestic equity markets kicked off Thursday's session on October 8 with noticeable weakness as negative international sentiment and policy tightening headwinds weighed on trading desks. Headline indices quickly retreated into the red during opening minutes, pushing the Nifty below the critical 22,600 threshold. Market breadth skewed decisively toward sellers, even though renewed appetite for major technology counters prevented a deeper slide across the broader indices.
Benchmark Indices Retreat in Early Trade
The BSE Sensex shed 177.83 points in initial exchanges to touch 72,460.87, reflecting cautious investor participation. Simultaneously, the NSE Nifty dropped 62.25 points to stand at 22,540.80. Market participation figures highlighted prevailing risk aversion across counters, with declining stocks outnumbering gainers. Around 1,563 equities traded lower against 1,075 advancing names, while 145 scrips held steady with unchanged values.
Sectoral Divergence: Software Outperforms, Realty and Metals Tumble
Performance across sector baskets presented a sharply contrasting picture on Thursday. The Nifty IT index provided substantial cushioning to the market by surging 1.55%. In stark contrast, interest rate sensitive and commodity pockets took heavy hits. The Nifty Realty index plunged by 1.51%, while the Nifty Metal index retreated 1.16%. Consumer staples also experienced mild selling pressure, pulling the Nifty FMCG down by 0.89%.
Leading Gainers and Laggards on the Exchanges
Buying interest remained heavily concentrated in front-line software service providers. TCS spearheaded the advance with a jump of 2.57%, followed closely by HCL Tech gaining 2.00%, Tech Mahindra advancing 1.62%, and Infosys rising 1.56%. Defensive buying and select interest were also visible in Trent, Cipla, and Sun Pharma.
Conversely, broad liquidation pushed several index heavyweights downward. SBI Life emerged among the biggest losers, sliding 2.14%, closely trailed by ITC falling 2.05% and Adani Enterprises losing 1.84%. Financial and healthcare stocks also witnessed steady unloading, with Bajaj Finance dropping 1.30%, Max Healthcare falling 1.24%, and IndiGo retreating 1.04%.
Regulatory Action Triggers Severe Unloading in Paytm Shares
Amid the broader market swings, shares of digital payments entity Paytm attracted intense selling activity. The steep downturn followed a decisive supervisory move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The monetary authority struck Paytm Payments Bank Limited off the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The revelation of this formal exclusion spurred widespread apprehension among institutional and retail market participants, triggering steep downward momentum in the stock.
