Stock market: Sensex settles 95 pts lower, Nifty below 25,500; time to buy the dip?

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty extended their losing streak to a third consecutive session on Friday, pressured by selling in heavyweight stocks such as Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra and Trent. The weakness offset gains in select index majors like Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel.

At the closing bell, benchmark indices trimmed early losses but still ended in the red. The Sensex declined 94.73 points, or 0.11 per cent, to close at 83,216.28, while the Nifty50 slipped 17.40 points, or 0.07 per cent, to settle at 25,492.30.

Bharti Airtel emerged as top loser on the Sensex, slipping 4.39 per cent to Rs 2,002.70. Tech Mahindra followed with a 1.91 per cent decline, while Trent, Reliance Industries, HCL Technologies and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) fell 1.25 per cent, 1.11 per cent, 0.92 per cent and 0.91 per cent, respectively.

Five stocks, namely, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, ITC, SBI and Hindustan Unilever, contributed heavily to the Sensex’s decline.              

Among sectoral indices, the BSE FMCG index slipped 0.45 per cent to end at 20,362.26, while the BSE IT index declined 0.39 per cent to close at 34,426.89.

Overall, out of 4,315 actively traded stocks on the BSE, 2,069 ended higher, while 2,102 declined, and 144 closed unchanged. During the session, 132 stocks scaled their 52-week highs, whereas 209 slipped to 52-week lows. Meanwhile, 201 scrips were locked in their upper circuits and 162 in lower circuits. 

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said domestic equities recovered from early losses as buying emerged at key support levels. However, he cautioned that it may be too early to call this a trend reversal amid mixed corporate earnings, cautious global sentiment, and continued FII outflows.

“Select segments found support from Q2 results, with broader indices outperforming, led by a sharp rally in financials—especially PSU banks on account of rising investor interest driven by speculation around an FDI cap hike and sector consolidation. Going forward, markets will closely monitor US shutdown and tariff-related developments with US-India and US-China deals to assess the durability of the current momentum," Nair said.

Ajit Mishra, SVP – Research at Religare Broking Ltd, said markets witnessed volatile trading on Friday and closed nearly flat, providing some respite after the recent bout of declines. 

Mishra said that after a soft start, the Nifty index staged a steady recovery through the session to close at 25,492.30. Among sectors, metals, banking, and financials led the rebound, while IT and FMCG stocks remained under pressure.

“Technically, the Nifty managed to hold its trendline support on the daily chart after retracing nearly half of the previous rally. Stability above the 25,600 level could help rebuild trader confidence and pave the way for a move towards the 25,800–26,000 zone,” Mishra said. 

“On the downside, 25,300 will continue to act as key support in case of any further dip. Meanwhile, we maintain our view to focus on sectors and themes showing consistent strength and use corrections to gradually accumulate quality names. Additionally, holding a few short positions in weaker stocks as a hedge against long trades remains a prudent strategy," Mishra added.