Nifty, Sensex fall in early trade led by losses in banks, IT stocks

Stock market news: Benchmark indices opened on a flat note on Thursday, taking cues from weak Asian peers ahead of key economic data from the United States. As of 9:40 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 79.25 points lower at 81,632.51 while the broader NSE Nifty50 was trading 34.7 points lower at 24,983.05.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd said, “The Nifty is approaching its all-time high of 25,078.30, and our outlook remains bullish, anticipating a move into uncharted territory. Key support lies at 24,750, and surpassing 25,078.30 could trigger further upward revisions. Nvidia’s earnings on August 28 will be closely watched, as any disappointment could disrupt AI-related stocks. Meanwhile, expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut on September 18 are building, with traders pricing in a 68 per cent chance of a 25-basis point cut. Volatility is likely, with critical inflation data ahead. Preferred trades include buying Nifty and Bank Nifty, with bullish positions in Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, and Muthoot Finance.”

The Nifty 50 has surged approximately 3.6 per cent over the past nine trading sessions, marking its longest winning streak in 16 months. Despite this smart rally, the Index was still 90 points below its all-time high and local participants expected range-bound trading in the near term ahead of key macroeconomic data later this week.

The foreign institutional investors continued to remain on a buying spree for the fourth day in succession, pumping Rs 1,504 crore into the Indian equity market on Tuesday. But domestic institutional investors ended their 16-day buying spree and became net sellers of shares worth Rs 604 crore. However, in absolute terms, the DIIs have pumped in $5.8 billion in the 16 sessions and are one of the deluge-of-liquidity reasons in the market.
 

"The market has entered a consolidation phase and this trend is likely to continue in the near term," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The forthcoming domestic quarterly growth data and the US inflation figures will be the next key triggers for the market, as per analysts. All 13 major sectors were in the red, with financials and banking being the worst hit—both segments sliding down 0.3 per cent.

Gaining on the upside was Zydus Lifesciences, whose stock rose 2 per cent after the US FDA approved a new Parkinson's disease treatment developed by the company.