Sensex falls 300 pts, Nifty below 24,250 as investors await RBI MPC outcome

Blue-chip equity indices Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Thursday, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s policy meeting where it is expected to maintain its current interest rates.

The BSE Sensex was trading 320 points, or 0.40%, lower at 79,151. The Nifty50 was down 67 points, or 0.28%, trading at 24,230 around 9:20 am.

The RBI is anticipated to hold key policy rates steady for a ninth consecutive meeting amid ongoing inflationary pressures, with market attention focused on its hawkish ‘withdrawal of accommodation’ policy stance and accompanying comments.

From the Sensex stocks, JSW Steel, Infosys, L&T, Tata Steel, and UltraTech Cement opened with cuts, falling 1-1.5%. On the flip side, Tata Motors, ITC, Titan, HUL, and HDFC Bank opened with gains.

Among individual stocks, Godrej Consumer Products fell 3.5% after the firm missed June-quarter profit estimates.

Apollo Tyres shares also declined 3% after the company reported a net profit of Rs 302 crore in the Q1 of FY25, declining 24% from Rs 397 crore posted in the Q1 of FY24.

On the sectoral front, Nifty IT, Auto, Financial, Metal, PSU Bank, and Oil & Gas opened in the red. Meanwhile, in the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 dipped 0.1%, while Nifty Smallcap100 edged up 0.14%.

Experts view

“The recent trend in institutional activity in the market indicates a clear trend. FIIs are in a risk-off mood and are playing it safe with sustained selling. DII buying, too, is a rational decision since they have to deploy the funds flowing into their schemes,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

“The heightened volatility in the market triggered by US recession fears and the unwinding of the yen carry trade is likely to persist for some time. Investors should wait for clarity on these two issues,” Vijayakumar suggested.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, “After a gap down opening, Nifty can find support at 24,150 followed by 24,100 and 24,000. On the higher side, 24,300 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,400 and 24,500.”

Global Markets

Wall Street equities closed lower overnight, dragged by technology stocks, as investors remained nervous after a recent steep selloff.

Meanwhile, Asian markets opened lower on Thursday, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index dropping 0.7%.

FII/DII Tracker

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling on Wednesday as they sold equities worth Rs 3,314 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,901 crore on the same day.

Crude Oil

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday for the third straight session after government data showed a steep draw in U.S. crude stockpiles, rebounding from multi-month lows touched this week.

Brent crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.3%, at $78.56 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 29 cents, or 0.4%, to $75.52.

Currency Watch

The Indian rupee rose marginally in early trading on Thursday, aided by gains in most Asian currencies, with dollar-rupee forward premiums also ticking up ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy decision.

The rupee was at 83.93 against the U.S. dollar as of 09:30 am IST, compared with its previous close at 83.9550.

The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.19% to 103 level.