Stock markets pare gains to close lower, Nifty falls below 24,000

The stock markets initially rose but ended the day lower with the Sensex losing 166 points and the Nifty falling below 24,000 due to late selling in banking and telecom stocks. The BSE Sensex closed at 78,593.07, down 166.33 points or 0.21 per cent, as 17 of its constituents declined and 13 gained. The index initially surged to a high of 79,852.08 on value-buying by investors but later dropped to 78,496.57 due to selling pressure in banking shares. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 63.05 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 23,992.55 after initially surging to 24,382.60 in intra-day trade but failing to hold onto gains. According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, the market rebounded briefly but closed below the 24,000 level, influenced by factors such as the appreciating Yen, weak US economic data, and rising geopolitical tensions.

State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Titan, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, and Bajaj Finance were the biggest laggards, while JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies, and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.

The RBI Monetary Policy Committee began three-day deliberations on Tuesday, and the RBI governor is expected to announce the bi-monthly policy on Thursday. Suman Bannerjee, CIO at Hedonova, anticipates that the RBI will maintain the current benchmark rate, considering inflationary pressures, especially due to rising food prices. Asian markets rebounded, with Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai settling significantly higher, although Hong Kong ended lower.

The Nikkei 225 share index in Japan surged as much as 10.7 per cent early Tuesday after a significant plunge the previous day. Meanwhile, European markets traded in negative territory, and the US markets recorded deep cuts on Monday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 10,073.75 crore on Monday. The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, climbed to USD 76.52 a barrel.

On Monday, the BSE benchmark settled at a month’s low of 78,759.40, marking its worst single-day retreat since June 4, 2024. The NSE Nifty also slumped to 24,055.60, with its worst single-day fall since June 4, 2024, when markets crashed more than 5 per cent after the general election results.