Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Feb 20: Indian equity markets opened the final trading session of the week in red, continuing the sharp losses from Thursday.
At 9:26 a.m., the Sensex fell 154 points, or 0.19%, to 82,343, while the Nifty 50 dipped 31 points, or 0.12%, to 25,423. Broad-cap indices showed mixed trends: the Nifty Midcap 100 lost 0.13%, whereas the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 0.13%.
Most sectoral indices were in the green, except for Nifty IT, down 1.07%, and media, which fell 0.41%. Pharma and realty saw marginal declines of 0.04% and 0.12%, respectively, while PSU banks led gains with a 0.58% rise.
Analysts said immediate support for Nifty lies in the 25,400–25,300 zone, with resistance near 25,675. For Bank Nifty, support is at 60,500–60,300, while 61,000 acts as immediate resistance.
Thursday’s sharp 1.41% decline erased recent gains and wiped out nearly Rs 6.79 lakh crore in market capitalization. The sell-off spanned banking, auto, FMCG, metals, and aviation stocks, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid US-Iran tensions and a hawkish US Federal Reserve outlook. The India VIX spiked over 10% to 13.46, while FIIs and DIIs were net sellers.
Market participants noted that while macro fundamentals remain strong, near-term sentiment is fragile and likely to keep markets range-bound until volatility subsides or fresh triggers emerge.
Global cues were mixed: China’s markets are closed for Lunar New Year until Feb 23, Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.57%, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.44%. In the US, Nasdaq lost 0.31%, S&P 500 declined 0.28%, and the Dow Jones fell 0.54% overnight.
On February 19, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 881 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 596 crore.