It was a tale of two halves on Tuesday. After gorging on gains in the previous session, Dalal Street started Tuesday on the front foot, only to run out of fuel. Despite strong handshakes from Wall Street and Asia and a welcome cooldown in crude, Indian benchmarks closed lower, weighed down by relentless foreign selling and heavy profit booking in IT.
The BSE Sensex opened at 74,901.50, a shade above its Monday close of 74,858.99, and even sprinted to an intraday high of 75,038.93. But the euphoria was short-lived. The 30-share index slipped steadily through the afternoon, touched a low of 74,423.71, staged a brief recovery around 2:30 pm, and then wilted again to close at 74,529.08, down 329.91 points or 0.44%. The one-day chart is a textbook distribution pattern: sharp morning spike, long afternoon drift, red close.
Nifty 50 mirrored the pain. It opened at 23,454.05 versus previous close of 23,414.30, hit 23,489.00 early, then slid to 23,285.75 before settling at 23,329.00, down 85.30 points or 0.36%. Crucially, the index slipped below the 23,400-23,380 support band that analysts were watching, closing near its day’s low. It remains well off its 52-week high of 26,373.20 and above its 52-week low of 22,182.55.
Sector Shakeout: Titans Tumble, Titan Twinkles
IT Pack Bleeds, Domestic Consumption Holds the Fort
The losers were led by technology. TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra dragged the Sensex lower, as the street digested stretched valuations after Nasdaq’s fresh record high overnight. Bajaj Finance, Trent and Axis Bank also ended in the red, down up to 2%.
Early heroes could not hold. Titan was the star at open, up 1.76% to Rs 4,960.50, followed by Eternal which extended its dream run to a fifth straight session, touching an 11-month high of Rs 339.80, up over 60% from March lows. Adani Ports, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, IndiGo, Asian Paints and L&T also flashed green in morning trade. By closing bell, only a handful stayed afloat.
Sectorally, the market was divided. Media, realty, metals and chemicals closed with modest gains. FMCG, cement, pharma, healthcare and banking were under pressure. Broader market breadth, which started with 1,873 advances against 581 declines on NSE, turned choppy by the end.
Derivatives data offers some comfort. India VIX, the fear gauge, eased 1.43% to 11.22, signalling complacency rather than panic. Put Call Ratio improved to 1.36, with heavy put concentration at 23,300-23,400 levels, indicating that traders expect a floor around current levels. Immediate resistance is pegged at 23,480-23,500, with a breakout above that opening doors to 23,650.
Corporate Corner: Business News That Moved Markets
NSE’s Mega Rs 22,562 Crore IPO Steals The Limelight
The biggest business story away from the tickers was the NSE IPO. The Rs 22,562 crore offer, which closed on Monday with 5.7 times subscription, is now in allotment stage and is slated to list on the BSE on Thursday. The blockbuster issue had sucked liquidity from the secondary market for three days. Now, as refunds flow back, analysts expect cash to return to equities. “Renewed focus will return to the secondary market now that the NSE IPO is over,” said Geojit’s Dr V K Vijayakumar.
Rupee And Crude Provide Cushion
There were two quiet positives. The Indian rupee opened stronger at 95.7475 per dollar compared to 95.8150 on Monday, up 0.07%. And crude oil finally took a breather. Brent slipped 0.74% to $99.48 per barrel after falling 3.4% in the previous session, while WTI traded in the $92-93 range. For an oil importer like India, every dollar off crude is a macro tailwind.
Consumption data is also turning. Credit growth, capital goods production and infrastructure activity are trending stronger year on year, though manufacturing PMI has softened and wholesale inflation remains sticky.
Global Gambit: Geopolitics Caps Upside
UNGA Drama And Oil Wobble Keep Bulls On Edge
Global cues were otherwise supportive. In the US, the S&P 500 jumped 1.5% on Monday, its best day since August 4, led by tech optimism around Meta’s new AI agent. Nasdaq hit a record closing high, its first since June. That buoyancy lifted Asia. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.38%, South Korea’s KOSPI surged 1.87%, and Gift Nifty at 8:55 am was signalling a positive start at 23,470, up 31 points.
But Europe cautioned. Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.2% and US futures off 0.3% by afternoon IST, as attention shifted to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
