Sensex Falls 135 Points While Nifty Closes Near 23,655 Amid Global Uncertainty and Profit Booking
Indian equity markets ended marginally lower on Thursday as investors turned cautious amid global geopolitical uncertainty, concerns around interest rates and persistent selling pressure in heavyweight sectors such as IT, FMCG and financials.
The benchmark BSE Sensex closed 135.03 points lower at 75,183.36, while the Nifty 50 settled nearly flat, down 4.30 points at 23,654.70.
Markets remained volatile throughout the trading session as early optimism faded due to aggressive profit booking at higher levels and cautious investor positioning ahead of key global and domestic developments.
Early Rally Fades as Sellers Dominate Higher Levels
The Nifty50 opened strongly above the important 23,800 resistance level, indicating positive early momentum supported by softer crude oil prices and overnight strength in global markets.
However, the gains proved unsustainable as selling pressure intensified through the session, dragging the indices lower by the close.
According to technical analysts, traders remained cautious due to:
- Uncertainty around US-Iran peace negotiations
- Concerns over possible RBI policy tightening
- Weak manufacturing PMI data
- Elevated global bond yields
- Profit booking after recent market recovery
The inability of Nifty to hold above 23,800 reinforced concerns that market participants continue to sell aggressively at higher levels.
IT, FMCG and Financial Stocks Lead Market Declines
Sector-wise, information technology, FMCG and financial services stocks emerged as the biggest drags on benchmark indices.
The Nifty IT index declined amid continued pressure on global technology stocks and concerns over weakening global demand conditions.
Similarly, the Nifty FMCG witnessed selling pressure as investors turned cautious on consumption-related stocks amid rising inflation and slowing demand expectations.
Financial stocks also remained weak due to concerns surrounding possible future interest rate hikes and tightening liquidity conditions.
Among the top losers on the Nifty50 were:
- Bajaj Finance
- Tech Mahindra
- Hindustan Unilever
These heavyweight stocks significantly weighed on overall benchmark performance.
Realty and Cement Stocks Outperform
Despite weakness in broader benchmark sectors, select pockets of the market witnessed strong buying interest.
The Nifty Realty and Nifty Cement emerged as the top-performing sectors during the session.
Cement stocks rallied strongly amid expectations of improving infrastructure spending, stable demand recovery and easing input cost pressures.
Realty stocks also attracted buying due to optimism surrounding housing demand and expectations that interest rates may eventually stabilise if inflation moderates over the coming quarters.
Broader Markets Show Mixed Performance
The broader markets delivered a mixed performance despite weakness in benchmark indices.
The Nifty Midcap 100 ended marginally lower by 0.04 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 outperformed and closed 0.63 per cent higher.
The resilience in small-cap stocks indicated continued selective buying interest among retail and high-risk investors despite broader market caution.
Analysts noted that investors remain focused on company-specific opportunities in sectors showing earnings momentum and structural growth potential.
Geopolitical Concerns Continue to Influence Markets
One of the key factors impacting investor sentiment remained uncertainty surrounding developments in West Asia.
Reports indicating that Iran was reviewing the latest US peace proposal kept markets cautious as investors closely monitored the possibility of further geopolitical escalation or progress toward a ceasefire agreement.
Global crude oil prices have remained volatile in recent weeks due to concerns around disruptions in energy supplies from the Persian Gulf region.
Although oil prices eased slightly during the session, geopolitical uncertainty continues to remain a major macroeconomic risk for global financial markets.
RBI Policy Expectations Add to Market Caution
Investors also remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s upcoming monetary policy decision.
Recent inflation trends, elevated crude oil prices and mixed growth signals have increased uncertainty around the future interest rate trajectory.
Market participants fear that persistent inflationary pressures could reduce the RBI’s flexibility to aggressively cut rates in the near term.
Analysts believe the central bank’s commentary on inflation, liquidity and growth outlook during the June policy meeting could become a key trigger for market direction.
Technical View: Key Levels Traders Are Watching
According to technical analysts, Nifty continues to remain trapped in a range-bound to weak trading structure.
Immediate resistance levels remain near:
- 23,700
- 23,800
- 24,000 psychological zone
Meanwhile, important support levels are seen around:
- 23,600
- 23,500
- 23,300
Analysts warned that a decisive breakdown below the 23,600 level could invite fresh selling pressure in the market.
Momentum indicators also continue to remain weak.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently hovering near 44, suggesting that strong bullish momentum is still absent despite intermittent recovery attempts.
Investors Focus on Global Cues and Domestic Data
Going forward, market direction is likely to remain heavily dependent on:
- Developments in US-Iran negotiations
- RBI monetary policy outlook
- Global bond yield movements
- Crude oil prices
- Rupee stability
- Domestic macroeconomic data
While selective buying continues in certain sectors such as healthcare, real estate and infrastructure, analysts believe broader market sentiment may remain cautious until there is greater clarity on global geopolitical and monetary policy trends.
The near-term market structure suggests that volatility is likely to remain elevated as investors balance strong domestic fundamentals against growing external macroeconomic risks.