BT Opening Bell | Sensex falls 474 pts, Nifty below 23,700; IT stocks down

Domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened gap-down on Tuesday as investor sentiment remained cautious amid lingering uncertainty over the US-Iran conflict. Elevated crude oil prices due to geopolitical tensions kept market volatility high and weighed on risk appetite.

At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex slipped 418.82 points, or 0.55%, to 75,596.46, after falling as much as 474 points in early trade, while the NSE Nifty dropped 102.50 points, or 0.43%, to 23,713.35, briefly touching a low of 23,689.10.

Among Sensex constituents, Infosys plunged 2.57% to Rs 1146.55. Tech Mahindra declined 2.08%, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Tech, and ICICI Bank dropped 1.94%, 1.70% and 0.88%, respectively.

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“The austerity call by the prime minister impacted the stock prices of sectors which are expected to be negatively affected by reduced consumption. Stocks of sectors like jewellery, travel and hotels bore the brunt of selling yesterday,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd.

“It is important to understand that these sectors will bounce back smartly if crude falls sharply and the austerity package becomes irrelevant. Therefore, watch out for the West Asia geopolitical situation and crude prices,” Vijayakumar added.

Global stock markets

Broader Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.62% higher at 62,805.44, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.52% to 7,703.26. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.65% to 26,578.81. 

Wall Street ended higher overnight, with all three major indices closing in the green. The S&P 500 edged up 0.19% to settle at 7,412.84, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also gained 0.19% to close at 49,704.47. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.10% to end at 26,274.12.

The 50-pack index” is expected to find immediate support near the 23550–23600 range, where some buying interest or recovery could emerge. However, any pullback rally is likely to face selling pressure near the 23800 mark, which has now turned into an important resistance level,” said Vatsal Bhuva, Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

Previous session

In the previous session on Monday, the Sensex plunged 1312.91 points, or 1.70%, to settle at 76,015.28, while the Nifty edged down 360.30 points, or 1.49%, to close at 23,815.85.

“As long as the index sustains above the crucial 23,555 support zone, the possibility of a technical rebound toward 24,000–24,100 remains open in the near term. However, any decisive breakdown below 23,555 could intensify selling pressure and drag the index toward the crucial support level of 23,350,” said Aakash Shah, Technical Research Analyst at Choice Equity Broking Private Ltd.