IT, bank stocks drag Sensex 150 points lower; Nifty below 22,450

Following the mixed cues from global peers, Indian equity indices opened marginally lower on Tuesday after hitting a fresh record high in the previous session. The downward trend was primarily attributed to declines in IT and financial stocks.

The BSE Sensex was trading 166 points or 0.22% lower at 73,848. Nifty50 was trading at 22,432, down 30 points or 0.13% at around 9.21 am.

Among the Sensex stocks, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, and TCS opened with cuts in early trade, while IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Titan, and Reliance Industries opened with gains.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail shares traded 15% higher after the apparel retailer said it was planning to demerge Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, which contributes more than 70% of the company’s total revenue, into a separate listed entity.

Adani Ports rose 3.5% after the firm handled 420 MMT of cargo in FY24 (including international ports), clocking a 24% on-year rise.

Sector-wise, Nifty IT declined by 0.5%, and Nifty Healthcare dropped by 0.36%. However, Nifty Auto, Media, Metal, PSU Bank, Realty, Consumer Durables, and Oil & Gas opened with gains. In the broader market, Nifty Smallcap100 rose by 0.5%, while Nifty Midcap100 surged by 0.34%.

Experts View

“Since the global construct is slightly negative as evidenced by the rising dollar and rising US bond yields ( the 10-year is at 4.3%) the FPIs may be tempted to sell. But FPI selling is not having any major impact on the market since DIIs, HNIs and retail investors are calling the shots now,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, “Nifty can find support at 22,400 followed by 22,350 and 22,300. On the higher side, 22,550 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 22,600 and 22,650.”

Global Markets

Asian markets opened higher, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index adding 0.69%.

Wall Street equities closed mixed overnight as optimism over moderating inflation was offset by data signalling strength in U.S. economy that could allow the Federal Reserve to delay the onset of rate cuts.

U.S. manufacturing grew for the first time in 1-1/2 years in March, helped by rebound in production and rise in new orders, data showed on Monday, weighing on hopes of a rate cut from June.

FII/DII Tracker

Foreign portfolio investors sold Rs 522 crore of shares on a net basis while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 1,208 crore, on Monday, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.