The Indian stock market closed Friday's session with solid gains, reclaiming and sustaining levels above the crucial 24,000 mark, highlighting the market's resilience. The Nifty 50 gained 0.18% to close at 24,056, while the Sensex advanced 0.39% to settle at 77,100.47. The recovery was largely driven by short covering in select heavyweights, a further decline in crude oil prices, and declining intensity of FPI selling. The sharp decline in crude oil prices proved to be a major positive trigger as Brent crude retreated to levels seen before the conflict, helping ease concerns over imported inflation, India's current account deficit, and the impact of higher input costs on corporate margins. The rally came after markets witnessed a sharp correction that wiped out more than ₹5 lakh crore in investor wealth during the week. The recovery was accompanied by strength in the local currency, with the rupee appreciating 11 paise to settle at 94.65 against the US dollar. All major sectoral indices ended in the green, barring the Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal indices, with the Nifty June 2026 futures closing at 24,053.60, trading at a premium of 31.95 points compared to the cash market closing. The GIFT Nifty indicated a positive start for Thursday, with futures trading with an uptick of 0.21% at 24,073.50 as of 10:17 p.m.
Market experts have provided comprehensive analysis on the Nifty 50's short-term trajectory following its reclaim of the 24,000 mark. Shrikant Chouhan from Kotak Securities believes the index may continue its pullback formation as long as it stays above 23,900, with potential rally extension to 24,150-24,200, while below 23,900 could see retesting of 23,800-23,750. Ajit Mishra from Religare Broking emphasizes that the Nifty needs to decisively surpass the 24,150-24,200 zone before resuming its move towards 24,500-24,600, with support intact in the 23,750-23,650 zone. Rupak De from LKP Securities highlighted that the index found support at the 20 EMA over the last two trading sessions, with the hourly RSI in positive crossover and resistance seen at 24,500 and 24,800 levels. Dhupesh Dhameja from SAMCO Securities noted that the Nifty sees immediate support in the 24,000 area, followed by 23,800-23,550, with the sharp recovery improving near-term sentiment but facing a crucial test near the 100-DEMA at 24,140-24,150. Nagaraj Shetti from HDFC Securities identified immediate support at 23,800, stating that the Nifty could challenge its immediate resistance of around 24,150-24,200 levels and is likely to advance towards 24,500-24,600 levels in the near-term. Dharmesh Shah from ET Now reinforces this outlook, stating that the Nifty held firm above 24,200, which acted as resistance at the 100-day exponential moving average, with a target of 24,500 for the coming week and strong support at 23,800.
The Nifty is currently confronting a formidable resistance zone between 24,160 and 24,500, where the 100-day moving average (24,161) and the 100-week moving average (24,500) exist. This cluster makes the zone technically significant and is likely to act as a stiff resistance area. Unless the index registers a decisive move above this resistance band, the ongoing rebound is likely to remain tentative in nature. The weekly RSI stands at 48.01 and remains neutral without showing any notable bullish or bearish divergence against price. The weekly MACD continues to stay bullish and above its signal line, while the latest weekly candle is that of a Doji, reflecting indecisive price action. Immediate resistance levels are placed at 24,160 and 24,500, while supports come in at 23,900 and 23,750. Any move beyond the resistance cluster may trigger stronger short-covering and improve the medium-term outlook, whereas failure to clear this hurdle could keep the index confined to a broad consolidation phase. Choice Institutional Equities noted that the index has formed a Doji-like candlestick pattern on the weekly chart, signalling indecision as the index continues to consolidate within a broader sideways range. The RSI on the weekly timeframe stands near 48.15, reflecting improving momentum while remaining just below the bullish threshold of 50, with the index successfully taking support near the 100-week EMA and closing above the previous week's closing level.
On the Nifty options front, maximum Call Open Interest (OI) is at 24,200 then 24,000 strike, while maximum Put OI is at 24,000 then 23,900 strike. Call writing is seen at 24,200 then 24,250 strike, while Put writing is seen at 24,100 then 24,200 strike. According to Chandan Taparia, Head Derivatives & Technicals, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, option data suggests a broader trading range in between 23,700 to 24,500 zones, while an immediate range between 23,900 to 24,300 levels. Riyank Arora, Associate Vice President – HNI & Derivatives, Hedged.in noted that the Nifty 50 index continued to hold above the important 24,000 mark, indicating that the short-term trend remains positive. Immediate support is placed near 24,000 – 23,950, followed by a stronger support zone around 23,850. On the upside, resistance is seen at 24,100 – 24,150, followed by 24,250. A sustained move above these levels could pave the way for further upside. Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities observed that the Nifty has formed a shooting star pattern on the daily chart, warranting some caution at current levels. The near-term trend of Nifty 50 remains positive amidst broader range movement, with having failed to surpass the crucial overhead resistance of 24,200, one may expect further consolidation or minor dip by this week. Immediate support to be watched at 23,800, while a sustainable move above 24,200 could open more upside in the near term.
The Relative Rotation Graph (RRG) shows that the Nifty Pharma Sector Index has rolled inside the leading quadrant, along with the Media and Midcap 100 Index. These groups may outperform the broader Nifty 500 Index relatively. Conversely, the Nifty Energy Index has rolled inside the Weakening quadrant, with the Nifty PSE, Metal, and Infrastructure Indexes also inside this quadrant. The overall relative performance of these groups may continue to slow. The Nifty IT sector continues to languish inside the lagging quadrant, with the Nifty Services, PSU, Bank, Financial Services, and Auto Indexes also inside the lagging quadrant, but they are seen improving their relative performance against the broader markets. The FMCG and the Realty Index continue to be inside the improving quadrant, with the FMCG Index seen giving up gradually on its relative momentum against the broader markets. Within the Nifty pack, Indigo, M&M, and Maruti led the gains, while ONGC, Hindalco, and Power Grid emerged as key laggards. Sectoral performance remained mixed, with Auto, FMCG, and Realty posting the strongest gains, whereas Metal, Oil & Gas, and IT indices bore the brunt of selling pressure and ended in the red. Nifty Auto surged more than 2% and emerged as the top gainer, Nifty FMCG rose 0.68% while Nifty Realty gained 0.33%. On the losing side, Nifty IT declined 0.86%, Nifty Media fell 0.63%, Nifty Metal dropped 1.37% and Nifty Oil & Gas slipped 0.87%.
Among the top laggards, Bajaj Auto was the biggest loser on the Nifty, falling 2.69%. According to Live Mint, NTPC declined 2.18%, while Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel and ONGC also ended in negative territory as investors booked profits in select auto, metal and energy names. The divergence highlighted a shift toward financials and growth-oriented sectors while cyclical stocks continued to face pressure. IRFC led the losses, falling 7% to ₹91.90 apiece. Other stocks such as Zen Technologies, PhysicsWallah, KEI Industries, Bata India, Engineers India, Schaeffler India, and Reliance Power also fell more than 2.5%. The decline in these sectors offset the gains in other segments, contributing to the mixed performance across different market segments. Broader markets underperformed the benchmarks and bucked the overall trend, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 declining 0.5% each. Market breadth weakened significantly, as reflected in the BSE advance-decline ratio slipping to 0.65, indicating a clear bias toward declining stocks.
