The Indian stock market ended lower on Friday, October 23, as selling pressure pushed both benchmark indices into negative territory. Small-cap stocks recorded the steepest losses, while metal, real estate and banking stocks also declined.
On the final trading day of the week, the BSE Sensex closed at 73,123.83, down 125.56 points, or 0.17%. The NSE Nifty fell 87.65 points, or 0.39%, to close at 22,600.
The market opened higher but failed to sustain its initial gains as selling intensified during the session. Both benchmark indices declined to lower levels during the day. Buying in some large-cap stocks later helped limit the losses.
The market remained under pressure throughout the week. Weakness in international markets and rising crude oil prices also added to investors' concerns.
Small-cap stocks faced the heaviest selling pressure on Friday. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell approximately 2.94%, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index declined around 2.21%.
The losses in both indices were substantially greater than those recorded by the Sensex and Nifty, indicating that selling pressure extended beyond large-cap stocks.
Several small- and mid-cap stocks had already been trading at elevated price levels. As market conditions weakened, investors booked profits in these stocks, contributing to the declines.
Among sectoral indices, metal stocks recorded a sharp decline. The Nifty Metal index fell 2.71% to close at 11,478.20. The Consumer Durables index declined 2.63% to 33,922.
The realty sector fell 2.38%, the chemicals sector declined 2.32%, and the PSU Bank index dropped 2.26%.
Selling pressure also affected private and public sector banks, pharmaceutical companies, media, automobile and FMCG stocks. The Nifty Bank index closed 1.16% lower.
The information technology sector recorded a comparatively smaller decline, with its index falling 0.27%.
Shriram Finance was among the worst-performing stocks in the Nifty 50, declining 3.98%. Adani Enterprises fell 2.86%, while JSW Steel dropped 2.83%.
Jio Financial Services closed 2.74% lower. Other major stocks, including Adani Ports and Tata Steel, also recorded losses.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles declined approximately 2%.
Despite broad-based selling, several stocks closed in positive territory. Eternal rose 4.25% to ₹317.40 per share.
Apollo Hospitals gained 1.65%, while ONGC advanced 1.11%. Asian Paints, TCS and UltraTech Cement also recorded gains.
Maruti Suzuki, Cipla, Reliance Industries and Infosys managed to close with modest advances.
Rising crude oil prices were among the factors contributing to selling pressure in the Indian stock market on Friday. Escalating tensions in the Middle East pushed international oil prices higher.
India imports most of the crude oil it requires. Higher oil prices can therefore increase the country's import expenditure.
Weakness in other international stock markets also affected domestic market sentiment. Meanwhile, several small-cap stocks had been trading at relatively high price levels, prompting investors to book profits and sell their holdings as market conditions weakened.
