On a day major global markets were up over 1 per cent, a sharp round of profit booking took Dalal Street investors by surprise on Friday, sending benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty below key psychological levels. Technical charts were already hinting at indecisiveness among the bulls and the bears; and rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack likely impacted investor sentiment, prompting profit booking after seven sessions of gains out of the last eight.
The BSE Sensex briefly dipped below the 79,000 mark before recovering slightly to trade at 79,054.95, still down 746.48 points or 0.94 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading at 24,011.90, down 234.80 points or 0.97 per cent.
“The potential headwind looming large on the horizon is the uncertainty regarding India’s response to the terror attack and its consequences,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.
Despite two days of fall, the BSE Sensex is still up 5,207 points or 7 per cent since April 9. Nifty has soared just over 1,600 points or 7.2 per cent during the same period. On technical side, an Inside Body candle formation on the daily chart on Thursday was indicating indecisiveness between the bulls and the bears.
“We believe the short-term market structure is bullish, but a fresh uptrend is possible only after the dismissal of the 24,400/80,300 resistance zone on Nifty/Sensex. On the other hand, if the market drops below 24,200/79,600, we may see a quick intraday correction to 24,100/79,300. The decline may continue further, which may drag the market to 24,000/79,000,” Kotak Securities said earlier today.
On Friday, Axis Bank fell 3.68 per cent to Rs 1,162.90. Axis Bank registered relatively slower deposits growth, prioritising quality and pricing, ICICI Securities said. This brokerage maintained ‘Buy’ on the stock on inexpensive valuations.
Earlier, the US Treasury Secretary Scot Bessent’s suggested that India was expected to strike the first bilateral trade deal with the US.
The US also is keen to strike as many deals as possible since China’s response to US initiatives has been indifferent, Vijayakumar noted.
Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, NTPC and Tech Mahindra (TechM) tanked over 2 per cent each. TechM’s turnaround is underway, Nomura India said adding that it sees the IT firm making steady progress towards medium-term goals.
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