Indian Stock Market Plummeting Amid Weak Global Cues, Nifty Approaches 25,500

Market Report: Indian Equities Trade Flat Amid Profit Booking and Weak Global Cues

Key Statistics:

• Sensex rose by 303.09 points (0.36%) to hit an intraday high of 82,579.16 on Thursday
• Nifty climbed by 90.45 points (0.35%) to reach 25,572.95
• Intraday turnover: The Sensex was trading 32.30 points (0.039%) higher at 82,308.37 at 11 am, while the Nifty was up 22 points (0.086%) at 25,504.50

Market Analysis:

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The benchmark equity indices were trading flat on Thursday due to profit booking and weak global cues. The Sensex and Nifty indices pared gains after initial gains led by IT stocks following robust earnings from Nvidia. However, Coal India, Power Grid Corporation of India, and State Bank of India were among the major laggards, declining up to 1%, while Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tech Mahindra were the top gainers, rising up to 2.5%.

Macro Factors:

• Rise in crude prices: Oil prices hovered near seven-month highs amid uncertainty over US-Iran nuclear talks and concerns over potential supply disruptions, which can widen the trade deficit and stoke inflationary pressures.
• Profit-taking: Profit booking was witnessed in FMCG, metal, and realty stocks after the initial upmove.
• Weak global cues: In Asian markets, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were quoting lower, while Wall Street futures declined up to 0.3%, indicating a weak opening for US markets.

Technical Analysis:

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• The 200-day simple moving average (SMA) has held firm in recent sessions, though follow-up momentum has remained limited.
• Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Investments, suggests that the market will continue to eye yesterday's upside turnaround level of 25,670 to confirm strength, aiming for 25,900. The downside marker may be placed at 25,530.

Expiry-Related Volatility:

Thursday marks the monthly expiry of Sensex derivatives contracts, which can lead to heightened volatility due to the unwinding or rollover of positions.