Stock Market: Sensex down 292 pts, Nifty below 26,000; Airtel, Sun Pharma lead losers

Domestic equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, started Thursday’s session on a weak note after the Jerome Powell-led US Federal Reserve announced a 25-basis-point rate cut. Investors turned cautious, keeping a close eye on developments surrounding the US-China trade talks ahead of the crucial meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

At 9:19 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 221.25 points, or 0.26 per cent, lower at 84,775.88, after slipping as much as 292 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty50 declined 84.70 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 25,969.20, after touching a day’s low of 25,965.25.

Among Sensex stocks, Bharti Airtel led losers, slipping 1.56 per cent to Rs 2,067.75.  Sun Pharma shares dropped 1.21 per cent. Other losers included ITC (down 0.82 per cent), Tata Steel (down 0.73 per cent) and Reliance Industries (down 0.58 per cent).

Wall Street ended mixed overnight, with two of three major US indices closing in red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.16 per cent to settle at 47,632, while the S&P 500 edged down 0.04 per cent to 6,890.59. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.55 per cent to end at 23,958.47.

Asian markets traded higher on Thursday. At last check, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.17 per cent to 51,396.85, while South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 1.19 per cent to 4,129.90. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.51 per cent to 26,480.55.

On Wednesday, the Sensex climbed 368.97 points, or 0.44 per cent, to settle at 84,997.13, while the Nifty50 advanced 117.70 points, or 0.45 per cent, to close at 26,053.90.

Amruta Shinde, Technical & Derivative Analyst at Choice Equity Broking Pvt Ltd, said Indian equity markets are likely to open on a flat-to-negative note on Thursday, as indicated by the GIFT Nifty, which was trading around the 26,179 mark in early deals – down 59 points.

“This points to a cautiously optimistic sentiment, even as mixed global cues and the absence of strong domestic triggers keep traders on alert. Investors are likely to closely monitor global market trends, crude oil price movements, and institutional flows for near-term direction,” Shinde said.

“From a technical perspective, the Nifty continues to maintain a sideways-to-bullish bias as long as it sustains above the 25,900–26,000 support zone. On the upside, immediate resistance is placed around 26,100–26,200, and a sustained move above this range could pave the way for further gains toward 26,300–26,400 in the near term,” Shinde added.