Stock Market Today: Sensex Falls 156 Points, Nifty Below 24,400 as Oil Prices, Global Cues Drag

Weakness in IT and financial stocks, along with elevated crude oil prices and mixed global cues, kept investors cautious.

At 9:16 am, the BSE Sensex stood at 77,809.53, down 156.82 points, or 0.20 per cent. The NSE Nifty was at 24,367.90, declining 67.05 points, or 0.28 per cent.

The subdued opening came after both benchmarks closed lower in the previous session. The Sensex fell 187.90 points on Wednesday to finish at 77,966.35, while the Nifty ended 0.28 per cent lower at 24,435.95.

Selling pressure was visible in several heavyweight stocks during early trading. Infosys, Titan, Reliance Industries and TCS were among the major contributors to the benchmark decline.

Infosys fell 0.85 per cent, Titan dropped 0.94 per cent, TCS declined 0.55 per cent and Reliance Industries lost 1.14 per cent. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI and Axis Bank also traded lower.

On the gaining side, IndiGo climbed 1.78 per cent to lead the early movers. Bharti Airtel gained 1.13 per cent, while L&T, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance and Eternal were also in positive territory.

Despite the weakness in the headline indices, small-cap stocks showed relative resilience. The Nifty Smallcap 50 rose 0.32 per cent, while the Smallcap 100 and Smallcap 250 advanced 0.30 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively.

The Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 0.16 per cent and the Midcap 150 declined 0.08 per cent. India VIX, meanwhile, fell 1.30 per cent to 11.54, suggesting that expectations of near-term market volatility remained moderate.

Sectoral indices delivered a mixed performance in early trade. Nifty Media gained 0.79 per cent, while Auto and Chemicals rose 0.37 per cent and 0.29 per cent, respectively.

Nifty Realty was the biggest sectoral laggard, falling 0.82 per cent. Nifty IT declined 0.63 per cent, while Private Bank and Financial Services fell 0.40 per cent and 0.38 per cent.

Pharma, PSU Bank, Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables indices also traded in negative territory.

V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments, expects the market to remain in a consolidation phase in the near term.

He said India’s strong economic fundamentals, earnings growth and continued domestic liquidity could provide support to equities. GST collections, freight activity, automobile sales and credit growth are among the indicators that could contribute to stronger economic and earnings growth.

However, elevated crude oil prices remain a key risk. Higher oil prices can increase India’s import bill and put pressure on inflation and the rupee.

Asian markets were largely positive in early trade, with technology and semiconductor stocks providing support.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.6 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.9 per cent. The Hang Seng was marginally higher and Shanghai Composite gained around 0.4 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.6 per cent.

Overnight, the S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5 per cent, while the Dow Jones ended slightly lower.

US consumer prices increased 3.4 per cent year-on-year in July, easing from 3.5 per cent in June. The softer inflation reading supported investor sentiment and reduced concerns over an immediate tightening of monetary policy.

The 10-year US Treasury yield eased to 4.68 per cent from 4.70 per cent. Meanwhile, US crude settled around $82.20 a barrel, while Brent crude traded near $87.97.

For Indian markets, the sustained rise in crude prices remains a concern because it could affect inflation, the rupee and the country’s import bill.

Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Investments, said the Nifty’s recent move above its 20-day moving average could support a potential trend reversal.

He sees an initial upside zone around 24,540-24,666, followed by 24,850-25,100 if the momentum strengthens. However, consolidation is expected near 24,490.

A failure to sustain the recovery could expose the index to 24,240-24,060, although James believes a sharp decline toward these levels is less likely at present.