Stock market today: The domestic market benchmark, the Sensex, hit a fresh record high, surpassing the coveted 74,000 mark for the first time, while the Nifty 50 also reached a new peak in intraday trading on Wednesday, March 6th, on gains led by banking heavyweights, including Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Sensex hit and closed above the 74,000 mark for the first time as it rose to a fresh all-time high of 74,151.27 while the Nifty 50 hit its record high of 22,497.20 during the session.
Finally, the Nifty 50 closed at 22,474.05, up 118 points, or 0.53 per cent, while the Sensex settled at 74,085.99, up 409 points, or 0.55 per cent. Thus, both indices settled at their fresh closing peaks.
However, the mid and smallcap segments witnessed significant selling pressure. While the BSE Midcap index fell over 2 per cent the Smallcap index tanked nearly 3 per cent in intraday trade.
Eventually, the BSE Midcap index ended with a loss of 0.65 per cent while the Smallcap index closed 1.91 per cent down.
Experts are of the view that the underperformance of the smallcap segment is likely to continue since smallcap valuations remain rich.
Smallcap index has fallen more than the Sensex in recent times due to the segment’s rich valuations. Moreover, market participants have turned cautious about the smallcap space as mutual fund schemes have started to restrict inflows into the smallcap funds and market regulator SEBI has asked the mutual fund industry to be more vigilant in small, midcap schemes to protect investors’ interest.
