Equity benchmarks ended lower on Thursday as markets struggled to maintain momentum despite encouraging economic indicators. The Sensex fell 200.85 points or 0.27 per cent to close below the 74,000 level at 73,828.91, while the Nifty 50 dropped 73.30 points or 0.33 per cent to 22,397.20.
“Shortened trading week and sell-off in the US short market are providing a hiccup to the global market. However, India is withstanding with resilience and healthy outperformance, by a narrow negative trend,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Domestic economic data played a significant role in today’s trading session, with retail inflation easing below the RBI’s target range for the first time in six months and industrial output surging beyond expectations in January. However, these positive indicators failed to sustain market momentum throughout the day.
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The session witnessed high volatility as the Nifty opened positive at 22,541.50 but faced selling pressure, reaching an intraday low of 22,377 before settling near its lows. Similarly, the Sensex opened at 74,392.54 but failed to maintain higher levels.
Among sectoral performance, PSU Banks and Banking sectors managed to post gains between 0.01 per cent and 0.43 per cent, with the Bank Nifty closing nearly flat at 48,060.40, up just 3.75 points (0.01 per cent). Meanwhile, Realty, Media, Auto, and Metal sectors experienced notable declines ranging from 0.87 per cent to 1.83 per cent.
The broader market also faced pressure, with the Nifty Midcap Select falling 87.70 points or 0.80 per cent to 10,823.95, and the Nifty Next 50 declining by 301.45 points or 0.51 per cent to 58,976.10.
Top gainers on the NSE included Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), which rose 1.18 per cent to ₹280.10 with a substantial volume of 3,80,15,489 shares traded, followed by State Bank of India (SBI) (0.68 per cent), Cipla (0.40 per cent), ICICI Bank (0.38 per cent), and Power Grid Corporation (0.36 per cent).
The top losers were Shriram Finance, falling 2.66 per cent to ₹620, followed by Hero MotoCorp (-2.26 per cent), Tata Motors (-2.04 per cent), HDFC Life Insurance (-1.80 per cent), and IndusInd Bank (-1.76 per cent).
“Investors are nervous about the likely imposition of tariffs on Indian goods by the Trump administration and its overall impact going ahead, hence caution with a negative bias could prevail for some more time,” noted Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd.
On the technical front, Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, observed, “Nifty has been forming a symmetrical triangle pattern on the hourly chart, which is a continuation pattern. For the past three days, Nifty has largely remained within the range of 22,350–22,550. A decisive move above 22,550 could trigger a meaningful rally in the short term. Conversely, a decisive fall below 22,350 could weaken sentiment in the short term.”
The Indian rupee showed strength against the US dollar. “Rupee traded positive with gains of 0.25rs at 87.05, supported by dollar weakness, which has seen a decline of more than 4 per cent in the last two weeks. The lower CPI data in India at 3.61 per cent vs. 4.26 per cent has fueled expectations of a rate cut in the next RBI policy, further aiding rupee strength,” explained Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.
Ajit Mishra, SVP of Research at Religare Broking Ltd, advised caution for traders: “The ongoing consolidation in the Nifty index has kept participants cautious, but a decisive breakout from the 22,250-22,650 range is expected soon. In the meantime, traders should maintain a stock-specific approach while managing position sizes carefully.”
In the commodities space, gold posted weekly gains, rising 1.30 per cent in Comex and 1 per cent in MCX, supported by dollar weakness and softer inflation data, with an expected price range between ₹84,500 and ₹87,500 for the coming sessions.
Markets will remain closed on Friday due to the Holi festival, concluding a week that saw the Nifty decline by 0.75 per cent.