Stock Market Today: BSE Sensex Drops Over 700 Points; Nifty50 Hovers Around 24,800

On Friday, the Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, experienced a sharp decline influenced by global trends. The BSE Sensex hovered near 81,200 levels, and Nifty50 approached 24,800. At 9:16 AM, the BSE Sensex was trading at 81,170.86, a drop of 697 points or 0.85%, while Nifty50 stood at 24,805.70, down by 205 points or 0.82%.

Ajit Mishra, SVP of Research at Religare Broking, noted, “Nifty is now approaching its immediate hurdle at 25,100 and will need fresh triggers to surpass this level. While buoyancy in the global markets, particularly in the US, is encouraging, the underperformance of banking majors is limiting momentum. We continue to advocate a buy on dips strategy, emphasizing careful stock selection.”

According to Nagaraj Shetti from HDFC Securities, the critical resistance range of 25,000-25,100 remains unbroken, leading to potential short-term consolidation or a minor dip, with immediate support at 24,750 levels.

Global markets are exhibiting weakness, with S&P 500 futures, Hang Seng futures, Nikkei 225 futures, Japan’s Topix, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, and Euro Stoxx 50 futures all trading lower. The forex market remains relatively stable, with minimal changes in the euro, Japanese yen, offshore yuan, and Australian dollar against the US dollar.

Oil prices increased on Friday but are on track for a fourth consecutive weekly decline due to signs of sluggish global fuel demand growth overshadowing concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures increased by 0.4% to $79.85 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by 0.5% to $76.69.

Several stocks, including India Cements, Granules, BirlaSoft, Indiamart, RBL Bank, and GNFC, are in the F&O ban period today. On Thursday, foreign portfolio investors were net buyers at Rs 2,089 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 337 crore.

Titan, Hindustan Zinc, Delhivery, and 98 other companies are scheduled to announce their first-quarter results on Friday.