Indian equities ended lower on Thursday, snapping a two-session winning streak as escalating tensions in the Middle East, rising crude oil prices, persistent foreign fund outflows and concerns over US inflation dampened investor sentiment. Weak global cues also kept traders cautious despite intermittent buying at lower levels.
The Sensex fell 151 points (0.20 percent) to close at 73,833, while the Nifty 50 lost 53 points (0.23 percent) to settle at 23,162.
Investor sentiment weakened after fresh US strikes on Iranian targets raised fears of a prolonged conflict in the Middle East. The uncertainty pushed Brent crude oil prices briefly above $95 a barrel before easing towards $92.
Other factors weighing on markets included:
Continued foreign institutional investor (FII) selling
Higher-than-expected US inflation concerns
Rising crude oil prices
Expectations of tighter global monetary conditions
While the broader market remained under pressure, select banking stocks helped limit losses.
Top gainers in the Nifty 50 included:
Mahindra & Mahindra
ICICI Bank
Kotak Mahindra Bank
JSW Steel
Sun Pharma
Bharti Airtel
These stocks gained between 0.65 percent and 1.84 percent.
Technology shares came under selling pressure, dragging benchmark indices lower.
Top Nifty losers were:
Infosys (-2.25 percent)
HCL Technologies
Adani Ports
Eternal
Bajaj Finance
These stocks declined by up to 1.6 percent.
Broader markets witnessed steeper losses than benchmark indices.
Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.81 percent
Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.67 percent
The weakness indicated risk aversion among investors amid global uncertainties.
Stocks witnessing the highest trading volumes included:
Vodafone Idea – 80.24 lakh shares
Ola Electric – 38.44 lakh shares
Zee Entertainment (ZEEL) – 14.75 lakh shares
Other heavily traded counters were:
Motisons Jewellers
GTL Infra
Tata Gold ETF
YES Bank
Two stocks ended the day at the 20 percent upper circuit:
PPAP Automotive
Indoco Remedies
PPAP Automotive rallied after announcing a partnership with Hutchinson to manufacture advanced body-sealing systems for passenger vehicles in India. Indoco Remedies gained amid a sharp rise in trading volumes.
Several stocks witnessed sharp declines.
Narmada Agrobase: -20 percent
MTAR Technologies: -10.99 percent
Bang Overseas: -10.66 percent
Anjani Portland Cement: -10.59 percent
A total of 38 stocks touched fresh 52-week highs, including:
Aster DM Healthcare
Cupid
Honasa Consumer
SIS
RBL Bank
At the same time, 84 stocks hit 52-week lows, including:
Bajaj Electricals
Dalmia Bharat
GHCL
Swiggy
SBI Life Insurance
Wipro
The advance-decline ratio remained negative, highlighting broad-based weakness.
Advancing stocks: 1,013
Declining stocks: 2,255
The ratio stood at roughly 1:2 on the NSE.
Technical indicators suggest that the Nifty remains in a weak trend, with the formation of lower highs and lower lows continuing on the charts.
Key levels to watch:
Immediate support: 23,000–23,100
Immediate resistance: 23,350–23,500
Analysts believe the index could remain range-bound within these levels in the near term, with buying interest emerging near the 23,000 mark.