Thursday brought a rude jolt to Indian stock investors, as markets opened in negative territory following a three-day rally. BSE Sensex shed 265.21 points to 83,968.43 at open, from 84,233.64 prior close. Nifty 50 mirrored the slide, opening 47.15 points lower at 25,906.70.
By 9:28 AM, the downturn accelerated: Sensex at 83,828.51 (-0.48%), Nifty at 25,840.40 (-0.44%). Midcaps fell 0.78%, smallcaps 0.98%, painting a bearish picture across segments.
Nifty IT cratered over 4%, dragging the market with top losers like Infosys (-5%), TCS (-4.4%), HCL Tech (-4.4%), Tech Mahindra (-4.24%), Wipro (-3.32%), and LTIMindtree (-2.23%). Additional pressure came from HDFC Life, Jio Financial, M&M, and SBI Life shares.
Bright spots included ICICI Bank, SBI, Eicher Motors, HUL, NTPC, BEL, and Axis Bank among gainers. FMCG nudged up 0.04%, but Auto (-0.35%) and Bank (-0.02%) indices declined.
Analyst Akash Shah from Choice Broking pointed to consolidation after Wednesday’s gap-up open and range-bound session. Selling persists above 26,050-26,100; support lies at 25,800-25,850. FIIs net bought ₹943 crore on Feb 11 (fourth session), DIIs sold ₹125+ crore.
Experts advise caution amid volatility and global headwinds. Prioritize fundamentally sound stocks during pullbacks. New longs only post-26,000 sustainment, signaling potential uptrend resumption. Investors should brace for choppiness but view dips as entry points for quality assets.