The Nifty 50 index closed 126.80 points or 0.52% lower at 24,207.75, marking a significant decline from its intraday high of 24,378.60. The Sensex settled at 77,472.94, down 183.15 points or 0.24%, showing mixed performance across major indices. The Nifty opened at 24,341.95 and climbed to an intraday high before losing ground through the session, eventually closing at its day's low. In the broader market, the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 0.84% while the Nifty Midcap 100 was largely flat, slipping 0.10%. Market breadth remained relatively subdued with the India VIX falling 4.89% to 10.53, suggesting that volatility remained relatively subdued despite the weakness in benchmark indices.
IT stocks emerged as the biggest drag on the benchmark indices, with the Nifty IT index falling 1.47% during the session. Infosys was the biggest Nifty 50 loser, falling 1.94%, followed by Bharti Airtel, which declined 1.91%. Other notable IT sector declines included Larsen & Toubro falling 1.76%, Power Grid losing 1.48%, and Tech Mahindra dropping 1.38%. TCS also slipped 0.87%, contributing to the overall sector weakness. As per Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments Ltd, the decline was largely offset by weakness in IT stocks after the US paused visa appointments amid an immigration crackdown which rekindled margin pressure concerns.
Despite the overall market decline, several sectors provided support to cushion the broader weakness. The Nifty Cement index jumped 1.69%, while the Nifty Metal index gained 1.26% and the Chemicals index rose 1.23%. Banking stocks also provided significant support, with the Nifty Private Bank index gaining 1.04% and the PSU Bank index rising 0.77%. The broader Nifty Financial Services index advanced 0.53%, indicating selective buying interest in financial sectors. Among individual stocks, Kotak Mahindra Bank was the top Nifty 50 gainer, rising 3.53%, while UltraTech Cement gained 1.87% and Axis Bank rose 1.33%. However, other weak sectors included FMCG, down 0.96%, consumer durables, down 0.92%, realty, down 0.80%, and auto, down 0.74%.
The Nifty Consumer Durables index declined 0.84% to 40,487.35, marking a significant reversal from its previous session's 0.93% gain. Major consumer durables companies experienced notable declines, with Voltas falling 2.05%, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals down 1.65%, Blue Star declining 1.53%, Dixon Technologies (India) dropping 1.49%, LG Electronics India falling 1.25%, PG Electroplast down 1.11%, Havells India declining 0.61%, Titan Company falling 0.52%, and Kalyan Jewellers India dropping 0.12%. The sector's decline was attributed to selling pressure in IT stocks, along with profit-taking at higher levels, causing the IT sector to drag down the overall market performance.
Top losers in the NIFTY50 index included HDFC Bank, Hindalco Industries, Shriram Finance, NTPC and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M). On the contrary, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors PV, Adani Enterprises, and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone were among the top gainers. Bajaj Finance shares were trading with gains as the company's board approved allotment of 500,000 non-convertible debentures at ₹1 lakh face value each, aggregating to ₹5,000 crore on private placement basis with 8.15% coupon rate. Juniper Green Energy shares hit a 52-week high of ₹282 post-Q1 FY27 earnings, but later slipped 5% amid profit booking. The power generation company posted 54% YoY growth in consolidated net profit to ₹34 crore and 81% revenue growth to ₹291 crore for Q1 FY27.
