The NSE Nifty fell 263.90 points or 1% at 25,876.85, down. The BSE Sensex ended at 84,180.96, a decline of 780.18 points or 0.9%. With Thursday’s decline, both indices have fallen for the fourth straight day, taking the loss tally for the week to 1.8%. “The talk on higher tariffs unsettles trades for companies and uncertainty is not good for the market sentiment,” said Siddarth Bhamre, head of research, Asit C Mehta Intermediates. “The liquidity keeps us afloat but the odds of the markets falling are shorter going forward.”
FPIs sold shares worth ₹3,367.12 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutions bought ₹3,701.17 crore. FPIs have sold ₹6,856 crore so far in January.
Agencies All Eyes on US SC
All eyes are now the US Supreme Court, which on Friday is expected to decide on the legality of Trump’s tariffs. If the court strikes down the tariffs, it could lead to a near-term rebound. A rally would, however, be short-lived as the Trump administration may invoke other provisions to reimpose the levies.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan dropped 1.6% while Hong Kong shed 1.2%. Taiwan and China declined 0.3% and 0.07%, respectively. South Korea advanced 0.03%.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures rose 1.3% to $60.8 a barrel. Silver and gold weakened on Thursday ahead of the annual rebalancing of the Bloomberg Commodity Index in January. Silver on Comex fell 4% and Gold spot prices eased 0.5%.
At home, the near-term outlook weakened on technical factors.
“The Nifty was holding above a major support of 25,878, but today that was breached,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP Research, Religare Broking. “If the Nifty fails to hold above these levels, there could be further correction. The immediate support for Nifty is around 25,600 levels and the major support is at 25,200 levels.”
VIX rises 6.5%
The sell-off intensified risk perception in the market with the Volatility Index (VIX)-traders’ fear gauge-climbing 6.5% to 10.6.
All sectoral indices ended lower on Thursday. The Nifty Metal index slumped 3.4%, while the Nifty oil & gas index tumbled 2.8%. Bank Nifty declined 0.5%, while the Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT index shed around 2% each.
The fall was sharper in the broader markets. The Nifty Mid-cap 150 and Small-cap 250 dropped 1.9% each. Of the 4,367 stocks traded on the BSE, 992 advanced and 3,225 declined. Both mid-cap and small-cap indices fell 0.8% and 1.1%, respectively, in the past one week. “Most of the money in the last two years went into smallcaps and this segment has underperformed even when headline indices were stable,” said Bhamre. “There could be a churn in the portfolios and investors are advised to remain invested in largecaps and selective in midcaps while avoiding smallcaps.”
Bhamre said that the markets have turned news driven.