Stock market today: Sensex slips 291 pts, Nifty below 25,400; IT stocks down

Domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Friday, extending their previous session losses amid weak global cues, rising crude oil prices and geopolitical tension between the US and Iran.

At 9:19 am, the BSE Sensex slipped 88.05 points, or 0.11%, to 82,410.09, after falling as much as 291 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty was down 32.45 points, or 0.13%, to 25,421.90, briefly touching a low of 25,386.20.

Brent crude's sharp rise to $72 reflects market fears and uncertainty, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, adding, “President Trump’s warning that ‘Iran has 10 to 15 days to strike a deal or bad things happen’ has put the markets on tenterhooks.”

Among Sensex constituents, Infosys declined 1.80% to Rs 1345. Tech Mahindra slipped 1.03%, while HCL Technologies, Eternal, and UltraTech Cement was down 0.72%, 0.61% and 0.50%, respectively. 

Vijayakumar said that whether a deal is reached after the standoff or whether missiles are launched will determine market behaviour in the short term. “The continuing weakness in IT stocks is another dampener for the market,” he added.

Asian markets traded mostly lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.29% to 56,726.73, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.47% to 5,760.95, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.55% to 26,557.90. Meanwhile, markets in China remained closed due to the Lunar New Year holidays.

Wall Street ended the overnight session on a negative note, with all three major indices closed in the red. The S&P 500 declined 0.28% to settle at 6,861.89, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.54% to end at 49,395.16. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.31% to close at 22,682.73.

“Amidst the many crises, the strength of the Indian economy and the recovery in corporate earnings as reflected in Q3 numbers, are positives for the market. If, hopefully, the US-Iran standoff gets resolved in the coming days, the market will bounce back,” Vijayakumar said.

In the previous session on Thursday, the Sensex plunged 1236.11 points, or 1.48%, to settle at 82,498.14, while the Nifty slipped 365 points, or 1.41%, to finish at 25,454.35.

“Therefore, investors may wait and watch the unfolding developments in West Asia. Meanwhile, investors who are optimistic about a possible deal can use the current weakness in the market to buy fairly valued high quality stocks in banking and financials, autos, pharmaceuticals, hotels, leading capital goods and telecom. Crisis have proved to be buying opportunities, in hindsight," Vijayakumar added.