Indian Stock Indices Open Lower; Sensex and Nifty Decline Amid Mixed Sector Performance
Mumbai Indian stock markets opened lower on Friday, primarily driven by declines in heavyweight stocks such as ITC, HUL, Asian Paints, and M&M. At 9:58 a.m., the Sensex was down 200 points, or 0.25%, at 82,762, while the Nifty fell 63 points, or 0.25%, to 25,325.
Despite the decline in frontline indices, the broader market showed a positive trend. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,697 shares were trading in the green compared to 598 in the red. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose by 363 points, or 0.61%, reaching 60,003, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index increased by 128 points, or 0.66%, to 19,482.
Among the Sensex constituents, Tata Steel, Wipro, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Nestle, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were notable gainers. Conversely, Asian Paints, HUL, ITC, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, and UltraTech Cement experienced significant losses.
Sectoral performance revealed that FMCG, pharma, financial services, and IT sectors faced the most declines, while PSU banks, metals, realty, and media sectors provided notable contributions to the market’s positive breadth.
Hardik Matalia, Derivative Analyst at Choice Broking, commented, “Following a gap-up opening, Nifty may find support around 25,300, with subsequent levels at 25,250 and 25,200. On the upside, immediate resistance is seen at 25,500, followed by 25,550 and 25,600.”
He advised traders holding long positions to maintain them with a trailing stop loss at 25,000 on a closing basis, while suggesting that adding positions on dips could be a prudent strategy.
Asian markets showed mixed trading patterns with Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Jakarta in the red, whereas Tokyo, Shanghai, and Seoul traded in positive territory. US markets closed in the green on Thursday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 7,695 crore on September 12, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also acquired equities valued at Rs 1,800 crore on the same day.
