Sensex, Nifty fall for third session as rising crude prices hit sentiment; analysts cautious

Stock market today: Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Thursday for the third straight session with Brent crude oil prices trading at $96.25 per barrel mark today. Crude prices are on a boil as US and Iran exchange attacks post the failure of 21-day ceasefire. The stock market has closed lower this week for three days on the back of US-Iran attacks and surging crude oil prices. 

In the current session, Sensex fell 208 pts to 76,548 and Nifty declined 48 pts to 23,948. Stocks such as Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, NTPC, SBI, Reliance Industries were the top losers today, falling up to 1.11%. 

Trent, M&M, ICICI Bank and HUL were the top gainers on Sensex, rising up to 0.48% on Thursday. Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 479.30 lakh crore against the previous day's market cap of Rs 480.05 lakh crore.   

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Investments said, "Inability to float above key pivots has rendered the trend vulnerable for more declines. Though a collapse is less expected, 23,750 stands exposed. Meanwhile, intermittent upswing attempts may be expected, but they will have to push above 24,000 to signal strength. As maintained yesterday, prospects of directional moves appear low." 

Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities said, "We are of the view that, as long as the market is trading below 24,100/77000, weak sentiment is likely to continue on the downside. The correction wave is likely to persist till the 50-day SMA or 23,800/76000. Further downside may also continue, which could drag the index to 23750-23,600/75700-75200. On the flip side, above 24,100/77000, the sentiment could change. Above this level, the market could bounce back to 24,200-24,250/77300-77500. A pause around the 23,800 mark could trigger a bounce back to the 24,000–24,050 levels. The intraday market texture is uncertain and volatile; hence, level-based trading would be the ideal strategy for day traders."

Previous session

Sensex declined 715.06 points or 0.92 per cent to settle at 76,755.05. Nifty50 index fell 191.45 points or 0.79 per cent to close at 23,996.25.