Sensex slips 519 pts, Nifty below 25,600; time to buy the dip or stay cautious?

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Tuesday, weighed down by persistent foreign investor selling and weakness in heavyweight stocks such as Power Grid and Eternal, which offset gains in Titan and Bharti Airtel. 

At the closing bell, the Sensex fell 519.34 points, or 0.62 per cent, to finish at 83,459.15, while the Nifty50 dropped 165.70 points, or 0.64 per cent, to close at 25,597.65.

Power Grid emerged as top loser on the Sensex, slipping 3.18 per cent to Rs 278.85. Eternal followed with a 2.71 per cent decline, while Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki and Bharat Electronics fell 2.35 per cent, 1.83 per cent, 1.73 per cent and 1.60 per cent, respectively.

Five stocks, namely, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, L&T and Eternal contributed heavily to the Sensex’s decline.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE IT index fell 1.06 per cent to close at 34,600.57, while the BSE Metal index declined 1.40 per cent to settle at 34,764.12.

Overall, out of 4,322 actively traded stocks on the BSE, 1,600 ended higher, while 2,554 declined, and 168 closed unchanged. During the session, 145 stocks scaled their 52-week highs, whereas 91 slipped to 52-week lows. Meanwhile, 199 scrips were locked in their upper circuits and 153 in lower circuits. 

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said Indian equities ended lower, weighed down by weak global cues and broad-based selling across IT, metal, and power stocks. 

“Investor sentiment remained subdued ahead of the holiday-shortened week. FIIs extended their selling streak for the fourth consecutive session, as rising U.S. bond yields and waning expectations of a near-term Fed rate cut curtailed risk appetite,” Nair said.

“Nonetheless, India’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain resilient, with strong manufacturing PMI and robust GST collections—despite recent tax reductions—underscoring sustained economic momentum and supporting earnings upgrades in the coming quarters. We expect investors will continue to exercise the buy on dips strategy in expectation of improvement in trend going forward," Nair added.