BT Opening Bell | Sensex drops 823 pts, Nifty below 24,150; IndiGo, M&M lead index losers

Domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Thursday, tracking negative cues from Asian markets and rising crude oil prices amid uncertainty over the US-Iran ceasefire.

At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex slipped 628.70 points, or 0.80%, to 77,887.79, after declining 823 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty was down 177.70 points, or 0.73%, to 24,200.40, briefly touching a low of 24,134.80.

Among Sensex constituents, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) slipped 2.10% to Rs 4541.30. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) declined 1.80%, while Eternal, Bajaj Fianance and UltraTech Cement fell 1.65%, 1.62% and 1.55%, respectively.

“With total uncertainty becoming the new normal there is no clarity on the near-term direction of the market. With the duration of the war going beyond everyone’s initial expectations and the price of Brent crude bouncing back to $103 there  is increasing risk to global growth in general and higher risk to India’s macros in particular,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.

“If Brent crude remains at an average of $100 for many months India’s growth and corporate earnings will take a hit. The market has not discounted this yet,” Nair said.

Broader Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 1.06% to 58,952.11, while South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.12% to 6,425.75, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.99% to 25,904. 

Wall Street ended higher overnight, with all three major indices closing in the green. The S&P 500 gained 1.05% to close at 7,137.90, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.69% to end at 49,490.03. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.64% to settle at 24,657.57.

“From a technical perspective, the Nifty 50 continues to face resistance in the 24,400–24,500 zone, where profit booking has emerged. Immediate support is now placed near 24,100–24,000. A sustained move above this resistance band could revive bullish momentum, while failure to hold support may lead to further corrective or range-bound movement in the near term,” said Aakash Shah, technical research analyst at Choice Equity Broking Private Ltd.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the Sensex declined 756.84 points, or 0.95%, to settle at 78,516.49, while the Nifty slipped 198.50 points, or 0.81%, to close at 24,378.10.