Profit Booking Pulls Market Lower, Investors Lose Over Rs 3 Lakh Crore

New Delhi, March 11th : Indian stock markets witnessed a sharp decline on Monday, the first trading day of the week, as profit booking by investors led to heavy losses. The market capitalization of BSE-listed companies dropped by a staggering Rs 3.25 lakh crore.

Benchmark Indices Fall

Both the benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, closed lower despite starting the day with slight gains. Sensex ended the session at 73,502.64 points, down 0.83%, while Nifty settled at 22,332.65 points, a decrease of 0.72%.

Selling Pressure Across Sectors

Selling pressure dominated most sectors, with banking, metal, and energy stocks experiencing the biggest declines. Public sector enterprises, realty, telecom, and FMCG also closed in the red. Only the pharmaceutical sector managed to stay afloat and close with gains. The broader market witnessed similar weakness, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices falling 0.24% and 2.01% respectively.

Active Trading, Limited Gains

Despite active trading, gains were limited. Out of the 4,081 shares traded on the BSE, only 923 closed with profits, while 3,036 ended in the red. A similar trend was observed on the NSE, where just 411 out of 2,266 shares closed with gains.

Market Experts' View

While the specific reasons for the profit booking are not mentioned in the report, market experts typically attribute such corrections to a combination of factors like:

• Profit taking by investors after recent gains.
• Global market cues.
• Upcoming economic data releases.
• Geopolitical tensions.

The report concludes with the top gainers and losers of the day, providing readers with a snapshot of individual stock performance.