Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty snapped their winning streak on Thursday, opening lower despite an improvement in investor sentiment driven by easing inflation and firm global cues. Early trade weakness was largely attributed to selling pressure in heavyweight stocks such as Tata Motors (CV) and Eternal, which dragged the indices into the red.
At 9:17 am, the BSE Sensex was down 70.48 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 84,396.03 after dropping nearly 213 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty50 slipped 32.70 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 25,843.10, after briefly touching an intraday low of 25,808.40.
Among Sensex constituents, Tata Motors (CV) led the losers, sliding 3.37 per cent to Rs 316.60. Eternal declined 0.91 per cent, while Infosys, Bharat Electronics, and M&M slipped 0.72 per cent, 0.70 per cent, and 0.60 per cent, respectively.
Wall Street ended mixed overnight, with two of the three major US indices closing higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.68 per cent to 48,254.82, while the S&P 500 rose 0.63 per cent to 6,850.92. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite eased 0.26 per cent to settle at 23,406.46.
Asian markets traded mixed on Thursday. At last check, Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up 0.20 per cent to 51,166.78, while South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.23 per cent to 4,140.86. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.35 per cent to 26,828.
On Wednesday, the Sensex climbed 595.19 points, or 0.71 per cent, to close at 84,466.51, while the Nifty50 rose 180.85 points, or 0.70 per cent, to settle at 25,875.80.
Amruta Shinde, Technical & Derivative Analyst at Choice Equity Broking Private Limited, said Indian equities are likely to open on a flat to slightly negative note on Thursday, with the GIFT Nifty indicating a muted start. The index was trading near 25,956, down around 30 points.
Shinde said investor sentiment remains cautiously optimistic amid mixed global cues and a lack of major domestic triggers. Adding, “In the near term, traders are expected to track global market trends, movements in crude oil prices, and institutional fund flows to gauge the market’s overall direction.”
“In the previous session, the Nifty opened on a strong note with a gap-up of around 130 points and traded in a sideways-to-bullish range throughout the day, indicating sustained buying interest and improving sentiment among participants. Immediate resistance is now placed at 25,950, followed by 26,000, while support at 25,700 and 25,750 is likely to serve as an accumulation zone for positional traders,” Shinde said.
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said the market will need stronger triggers to scale fresh record highs. “With the outcome of the Bihar polls largely discounted by the market, there are no political triggers that can push the market significantly higher. The reverse might happen if the actual poll results turn out to be different from the exit polls,” he said.
“The important economic factors that have to be watched for is a possible India-US trade deal removing the penal tariffs and reducing the reciprocal tariffs. The decline in October retail inflation in India to 0.25% indicates the possibility of a rate cut from the MPC in December. But the monetary policy transmission turning weak has become a challenge for the RBI,” Vijayakumar said.
“In the near-term, the market is likely to consolidate and then respond to triggers when they happen. Positive triggers happening simultaneously can lead to short-covering, pushing the market sharply up. But a sustained uptrend would be challenging given the FII selling and elevated valuations,” Vijayakumar added.
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