Stock market: Sensex falls 148 pts, Nifty below 25,550; more losses ahead?

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended lower for the second straight session on Thursday as profit booking and selling pressure in heavyweight stocks such as Power Grid, Eternal, and Bharat Electronics offset gains in Asian Paints and Reliance Industries.

At the closing bell, the Sensex declined 148.14 points, or 0.18 per cent, to settle at 83,311.01, while the Nifty50 slipped 87.95 points, or 0.34 per cent, to end at 25,509.70.

Power Grid emerged as top loser on the Sensex, slipping 3.15 per cent to Rs 270.20. Eternal followed with a 2.42 per cent decline, while Bharat Electronics, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank and NTPC fell 1.67 per cent, 1.45 per cent, 1.21 per cent and 1.21 per cent, respectively.

Five stocks, namely, ICICI Bank, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and Bajaj Finance, contributed heavily to the Sensex’s decline.              

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Metal index slipped 2.03 per cent to end at 34,058.31, while the BSE Oil & Gas index declined 0.57 per cent to close at 28,632.24.

Overall, out of 4,353 actively traded stocks on the BSE, 1,214 ended higher, while 2,993 declined, and 146 closed unchanged. During the session, 124 stocks scaled their 52-week highs, whereas 173 slipped to 52-week lows. Meanwhile, 176 scrips were locked in their upper circuits and 210 in lower circuits. 

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said volatility dominated the domestic market as broad-based profit booking persisted amid continued FII outflows, despite supportive cues from Asian peers.

“Early optimism from the inclusion of four Indian companies in the MSCI Global Standard Index and strong U.S. macro data was offset by weak domestic PMI readings, indicating softening sentiment. Most sectors traded lower, though IT stocks remained resilient, supported by in-line earnings and improvement in US macro data. Amid overall caution, selective buying emerged in fundamentally strong companies due to better-than-expected Q2 earnings," Nair said.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said the 50-pack index slipped below the critical 21EMA on the daily timeframe, indicating weakness. 

“However, the index has declined towards the support of the previous swing high, placed around 25,450. Going forward. if the index falls below 25,450, the short-term trend might weaken further. On the other hand, if it holds above 25,450, a significant trend reversal might occur,” De said