Stock market today: Wild swing of 1,000 pts for Sensex, Nifty holds 25k; what's next?

Indian benchmark indices managed to close higher in a session marked by wild swings in both Sensex and Nifty on Tuesday. Sensex closed 158 pts higher at 82,055 and Nifty ended 72 pts higher at 25,044. Sensex gave up 963 pts and Nifty fell 273 pts from the day's high on a closing basis.    

Earlier, the 50-stock index reached a high of 83,018 and Nifty hit 25,317 mark after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Sensex surged 1122 pts to 83,018 against the previous close of 81,896. On similar lines, Nifty gained 346 points intra day to 25,317. 

However, the indices trimmed gains in the afternoon session amid reports that Iran has launched a fresh missile attack on Israel after the ceasefire announcement. Israel vowed to reply back to Iran's violation of ceasefire with high intensity strikes in Tehran. Sensex plunged 1118 points to 81,900 against the day's high of 83,018 and Nifty tanked 318 points to 24,999 against the peak of 25,317. 

Market cap of BSE-listed firms stood at Rs 450.08 lakh crore against the mcap Rs 447.82 lakh crore in the previous session. 

Analysts are mildly positive on the outlook of the Indian equity market. 

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities said, "A reasonable negative candle was formed on the daily chart with long upper shadow. Technically, this market action indicates false upside breakout attempt of broader high low range of the last one month around 25200 levels. This could signal there is a possibility of some more consolidation in the short term before surging higher again. The short-term trend of Nifty remains positive amidst range movement. Further sustainable move above 25200-25300 levels could open further upside towards 25600 for the near term. Immediate support is placed at 24900 levels."

Top Sensex gainers were Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, L&T, SBI and Tata Motors, rising up to 2.58%.

On the other hand, PowerGrid, NTPC, Trent, Reliance, HCL Tech, BEL, Maruti, HUL, and TCS led the losers on Sensex, falling up to 1.52% on Tuesday.  

Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities said, From the day's highest level, the market corrected over 300/1000 points. It also formed a bearish candle on the daily charts, indicating temporary weakness. However, the medium-term outlook of the market remains positive. We are of the view that 25,000/82000 would act as a key support zone for day traders. Above this level, we could expect a technical bounce back up to 25,200–25,300/82500-83000. On the flip side, if the market falls below 25,000/82000, it could extend the correction up to 24,850–24,800/81600-81500. The current market texture is volatile and non-directional; hence, level-based trading would be the ideal strategy for day traders."

As many as 108 stocks hit their 52-week highs today. On the other hand, 44 shares fell to their 52-week lows on BSE. 

Market breadth was in the green. Of 4144 stocks traded, 2662 stocks ended higher on BSE. Around 1339 stocks closed in the red and 143 stocks remained unchanged.

Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking said, "Nifty's failure to surpass the 25,200-resistance level indicates that the bears are still active and not ready to give in. However, rotational buying across key sectors, along with notable strength in the midcap and smallcap segments, continues to offer trading opportunities. Participants are advised to maintain a positive yet cautious stance, with a strong focus on stock selection driven by sectoral trends."

Previous session

Sensex closed 511 points, or 0.62 per cent, down at 81,896.79, while the Nifty 50 settled at 24,971.90, down 141 points, or 0.56 per cent.