Domestic equity benchmarks, the Sensex and Nifty, opened lower on Friday, looking to end a six-session winning streak, as selling pressure in stocks such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Axis Bank offset gains in ICICI Bank and Bharat Electronics (BEL).
At 9:21 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 132.21 points, or 0.16 per cent, lower at 84,424.19, after declining as much as 164 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty50 was down 39.50 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 25,851.90, after hitting a day’s low of 25,840.30.
Among Sensex stocks, HUL led losers, dropping 3.33 per cent to Rs 2,514.20. Kotak Mahindra Bank shares fell 1.46 per cent. Other losers included Axis Bank (down 0.89 per cent), Power Grid (down 0.73 per cent) and Titan (down 0.63 per cent).
Wall Street ended higher overnight, with all three major US indices closing in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.31 per cent to 46,734.61, while the S&P 500 added 0.58 per cent to 6,738.44. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.89 per cent to finish at 22,941.80.
Asian markets were largely in the green in Friday’s trade. At last check, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.35 per cent to 49,299.12, while South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 1.89 per cent to 3,918.29. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.53 per cent to 26,106.75.
On Thursday, the Sensex climbed 130.06 points, or 0.15 per cent, to close at 84,556.40, while the Nifty50 advanced 22.80 points, or 0.09 per cent, to settle at 25,891.40.
Amruta Shinde, Technical and Derivative Analyst at Choice Equity Broking Pvt Ltd, said Indian equity markets are likely to open on a flat to mildly positive note on Friday, as indicated by the GIFT Nifty, which was trading around the 25,996 mark in early deals, up 19 points.
“This suggests a cautiously optimistic sentiment, even as weak global cues and the absence of strong domestic triggers keep traders on alert. Investors are likely to track global market trends, crude oil price movements, and institutional flows for further direction,” Shinde said.
Shinde noted that in the previous session, the Nifty 50 opened with a gap-up of nearly 200 points but saw intraday profit booking, which erased most of its gains and led the index to end flat, reflecting heightened market volatility. Adding, “The index continues to exhibit a sideways to bullish bias, holding firmly above key support levels at 25,700 and 25,750. Immediate resistance is placed at 25,950, with further upside targets at 26,000 and 26,100.”
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said the market rally, which had started strongly yesterday on news of an imminent India-US trade deal, lost momentum midway and completely fizzled out in the final hour.
“The positive news regarding the trade deal was not confirmed by the Indian side. This dampened the spirits of the bulls, who couldn’t force further short covering. But it is important to note that the commerce minister did say that ‘ we hope to work towards a fair and equitable agreement with the US’ and, therefore, the ongoing rally is likely to remain intact,” Vijayakumar said.
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