The benchmark index opened 143 points lower and attempted to recover from the day’s low during the first half of the session. However, selling pressure resurfaced in the latter half, dragging the index nearly 123 points from its intraday high before it settled in the red.
The Nifty 50 ended the session 158 points lower at 24,052, snapping its three-session winning streak.
Among the Nifty 50 stocks, Bharti Airtel, Apollo Hospitals and Sun Pharma emerged as the top gainers, while HCL Technologies, Shriram Finance and HDFC Life were the biggest losers.
Sectoral performance remained mixed. Pharma, healthcare and metal stocks bucked the broader weakness to end higher, whereas realty, PSU banks and auto stocks were the worst-performing sectors.
The weakness was also reflected in the broader markets, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 declining 0.44% and 1.01%, respectively.
Going ahead, analysts expect Indian equities to remain range-bound with heightened volatility amid geopolitical tensions in West Asia, Brent crude prices holding above $85 per barrel and weak global cues.
With the Q1 FY27 earnings season gathering momentum, stock-specific action is likely to dominate trading. Investors will also keep an eye on key global macroeconomic data, including the US CPI, US PPI and China’s GDP figures.
On the earnings front, results from Union Bank, Groww, HDFC Life, HDFC AMC, ICICI Lombard, ICICI Prudential Life and Angel One will be closely tracked.
What do the Nifty50 charts indicate?
Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities said the Nifty’s short-term trend remains choppy with a weak bias, although the broader near-term uptrend is still intact. He expects immediate resistance at 24,300 and 24,500, while the next key support is placed around 23,800.
LKP Securities’ Rupak De said the index remained range-bound after opening with a gap-down on the weekly options expiry day. He said that the Nifty found support near the previous session’s low and continued to trade above the falling trendline as well as the crucial 50-day exponential moving average (EMA), indicating underlying strength.
According to De, the near-term outlook remains positive as long as the index holds above 23,950. On the upside, the Nifty could advance towards the 24,250-24,300 zone. However, a decisive break below 23,950 could weaken the current bullish structure and trigger a phase of consolidation.
Nandish Shah of HDFC Securities said the Nifty closed near its 20-day exponential moving average (DEMA) at 24,029 on the weekly expiry day, making it an important immediate support level. He believes the index continues to remain in a consolidation phase, with resistance seen around the recent swing high of 24,260 and support near 23,800.
Meanwhile, the Nifty Bank underperformed the benchmark indices, ending the session with losses of over 1%.
Sudeep Shah of SBI Securities said the 56,900-56,800 zone is expected to provide immediate support for the banking index. A sustained move below 56,800 could intensify selling pressure and trigger a further decline towards 56,200. On the upside, the 57,800-57,900 range is likely to act as a key resistance zone.
