The Sensex, which touched an intraday high of 84,258.03, slipped to a low of 83,324.84. The Nifty fell from its peak of 25,899.80 to an intraday trough of 25,627.40. At the day’s end, the Sensex was down 250 points, or 0.3%, to close at 83,627.69, while the Nifty declined 58 points, or 0.22%, to end the day at 25,732.30.
Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:
Domestic equities experienced a downturn due to renewed concerns about potential U.S. tariffs on countries trading with Iran, overshadowing the initial optimism from the newly appointed U.S. ambassador’s positive statements on the trade deal, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that investor sentiment remained cautious amidst the rupee’s weakness, rising crude prices, higher U.S. bond yields, and persistent FII outflows. “On a brighter note, India’s December CPI remained within the RBI’s target range, reinforcing expectations of future rate cuts. However, the Q3 earnings season commenced on a subdued note, with lackluster results from a leading IT major. Profit booking was prevalent across most sectors, though small-cap stocks showed notable gains,” said Nair.
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US markets
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were steady on Tuesday after a largely in-line inflation report sustained expectations of interest rate cuts this year, while investors weighed mixed quarterly results from JPMorgan and Delta Air Lines.Excluding volatile food and energy components, U.S. consumer prices increased 0.2% in December from the prior month, softer than economists’ forecast of a 0.3% increase. Headline and core CPI rose 2.6% year-on-year last month after rising by the same margin in November.
The data solidified Fed bets on at least two more 25-basis-point interest rate cuts between June and December, with traders seeing a small chance of a third, per LSEG data.
European Markets
European stock markets were mixed following a US consumer price reading that suggested inflation is easing — although not by enough to prompt the Federal Reserve bank into an early rate easing.
Europe’s STOXX 600 reversed early gains to trade 0.27% lower at 609.27.
Tech View
Technically, the Sensex respected the support zone around 83100-83200, which acted as a firm cushion on session lows, said Hitesh Tailor, Technical Research Analyst at Choice Broking, adding that immediate resistance is now placed near 84100-84200, where earlier upside attempts were capped before the late-day weakness.
“With the failure to sustain early gains and a close below major psychological levels, the structure currently favours a neutral-to-cautious stance, with selective accumulation on dips as long as the support zone holds intact,” said Tailor.
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Most active stocks in terms of turnover
HDFC Bank (Rs 3,013 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 2,048 crore), RIL (Rs 1,968 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 1,940 crore), BSE (Rs 1,896 crore), TCS (Rs 1,836 crore) and Hindustan Copper (Rs 1,632 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 105 crore), IFCI (Traded shares: 18.5 crore), Ola Electric Mobility (Traded shares: 7.7 crore), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 7.5 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 6.6 crore), Bank of Maharashtra (Traded shares: 5.1 crore) and Eternal (Traded shares: 5 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
Shares of Authum Investment, Maharashtra Scooter, PVR, Motilal Oswal, City Union Bank, Oil India Ltd and Manappuram Finance were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
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52 Week high
Over 82 stocks hit their 52-week highs today while 532 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included SBI and Vedanta.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Dixon Tech, Vodafone Idea, Au Small Finance Bank, Trent, HEG, Larsen & Toubro and Graphite India.
Sentiment meter bearish
The market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,327 stocks that traded on the BSE on Friday, 2,143 stocks witnessed declines, 1,989 saw advances, while 195 stocks remained unchanged.
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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)