Stock market: Redness prevailed in the market for the second consecutive day, Sensex slipped 852 points, Nifty fell 0.84 percent.

Mumbai, 24 April. The Indian stock market closed in the red for the second consecutive trading day with major losses due to surge in crude oil prices due to the ongoing blockade in the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, weak rupee and other adverse factors. During this period, major domestic benchmarks Sensex and Nifty recorded a decline of about 1 percent. At the time of market closing, the 30-share BSE Sensex was seen trading at 77,664 with a decline of 852.49 points or 1.09 percent, while the NSE Nifty50 slipped by 205.05 (0.84 percent) points to reach 24,173.05.

The Sensex opened at 77,983.66 and fell 823 points, or more than 1 per cent, to the day’s low of 77,574.18 in intraday trade. While the Nifty opened at 24,202.35, it fell by 243 points or about 1 percent and reached the day’s low of 24,134.80. Thus, in just two sessions the Sensex has fallen by about 1,600 points or 2 percent, while the Nifty 50 has also fallen by about 2 percent. During the session, broader market indices also declined, while in the previous session the broader indices had closed in the green despite the market falling.

While the Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined by 0.67 percent, the Nifty Midcap 100 index declined by 0.41 percent. Sector wise, except Nifty Pharma (up 2.36 percent) and Nifty Media (up 0.90 percent), all other sectors recorded a decline. The maximum decline was seen in Nifty Auto by 2.35 percent, Nifty PSU Bank by 2.19 percent, Nifty Realty by 1.83 percent, Nifty Financial Services by 1.38 percent, Nifty Private Bank by 1.31 percent and Nifty IT by 1.22 percent.

In the Nifty50 pack, shares of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Cipla, Adani Enterprises, Coal India, Apollo Hospital, Adani Ports, ONGC and Nestle India saw the biggest rise, while shares of Trent, Shriram Finance, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, SBI Life, TMPV and M&M were the biggest losers. Rising crude oil prices kept investors cautious due to the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, leading to risk aversion in global markets.

The market environment became even more depressing as the price of crude oil remained above $100 amid the stalling of US-Iran talks. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee weakened for the fourth consecutive session and breached the 94-mark for the second time in a month. Brent crude rose 1.1 percent to nearly $103 a barrel, marking the fourth consecutive day of gains amid market concerns. The benchmark has gained nearly 70 percent so far this year, with much of the rise coming after the escalation of the Middle East conflict.