Nifty pares losses from day’s low but stays in red at mid-session

Markets remained under pressure at midday on Friday, though indices trimmed early losses as banking stocks staged a partial recovery. The Sensex was trading at 76,001.48, down 389.91 points or 0.51 per cent, while the Nifty 50 was at 23,757.15, down 112.45 points or 0.47 per cent, as of 12.38 PM, well above the day’s opening lows of 75,708.19 and 23,666.35, respectively.

Breadth on the BSE remained decisively negative, with 2,163 stocks declining against 1,752 advances out of 4,138 stocks traded. A total of 82 stocks hit 52-week lows against 68 at 52-week highs, while 174 stocks were locked in lower circuits compared to 110 in upper circuits. The Nifty 500’s advance-decline ratio stood at 150:350, and Nifty’s own ratio was 13:37, pointing to broad-based selling pressure across both large-cap and mid-cap segments.

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Among Nifty 50 gainers, Cipla led the pack, rising 1.79 per cent to ₹1,418.00, followed by Wipro at ₹176.55, up 0.99 per cent. HCL Technologies gained 0.97 per cent to ₹1,256.80, Trent advanced 0.96 per cent to ₹2,902.40, and ITC added 0.91 per cent to ₹283.85. Sudeep Shah, Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, noted that Nifty Media and Nifty FMCG were the best-performing sectors of the session, providing some cushion to the index.

On the losing side, Bajaj Finance was the worst performer, falling 2.84 per cent to ₹1,010.30. Eternal dropped 2.53 per cent to ₹279.85, and Mahindra & Mahindra declined 2.42 per cent to ₹3,151.40. Infosys continued its post-results slide, down 1.90 per cent to ₹1,027.50 after the company trimmed the upper end of its FY27 revenue guidance the previous evening. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories fell 1.48 per cent to ₹1,149.00. Nifty Auto and Nifty IT were the worst-performing sectoral indices on the day.

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The rupee remained under pressure, trading in the ₹96.4–₹96.5 range against the US dollar after weakening to a two-month low of ₹96.67, weighed down by elevated crude prices and sustained dollar demand from importers. Brent crude remained above the $100-a-barrel mark, while WTI hovered in the $91–$92 range. MCX Crude Oil was trading near ₹8,900, pulling back from Thursday’s high of ₹9,060 but holding above its long-term trendline, with RSI in overbought territory.

Precious metals also opened weaker. COMEX Gold slipped below $4,050, with immediate support at $4,000–$3,980. MCX Gold opened with a gap-down below ₹1,42,000, trading near ₹1,41,500. COMEX Silver slipped below $58, while MCX Silver opened with a gap-down, with support at ₹2,16,700–₹2,16,000.

Technically, Shah noted that the 23,560–23,580 zone would act as a crucial support for Nifty, being today’s gap area, while resistance is placed at 23,830–23,870. On the options front, meaningful call writing was seen at the 23,700 and 23,800 strikes, while the 23,600 put had substantial open interest, followed by 23,500. For the Sensex, support was seen at 75,200 and resistance at 76,200. A sustained move above 23,870 could extend a pullback rally toward 24,030–24,070, while a slip below 23,560 could open the door to 23,430–23,370.

Bank Nifty opened near 56,169, breaking below its 200-day EMA and all other key moving averages, though a sharp intraday pullback in banking stocks helped trim broader index losses. Resistance is now seen at 56,600, with support in the 56,000–55,800 zone. A break below that level could drag the index toward 55,600.