Mumbai— Indian equity markets ended in the red on Friday, as investors turned cautious ahead of the release of key GDP data. The benchmark Sensex dropped 182.01 points, or 0.22%, to close at 81,451.01, while the Nifty declined 82.90 points, or 0.33%, to settle at 24,750.70.
Midcap and smallcap indices remained largely flat. The Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 37.25 points to 57,420.00, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 edged down 6.10 points to 17,883.30.
The broader market weakness was led by declines in metal and IT stocks. The Nifty Metal index fell 1.69%, while the Nifty IT index dropped 1.15%. Auto, pharma, and FMCG stocks also closed lower. However, PSU banks, financial services, and media stocks managed to stay in positive territory.
The Nifty index traded with a negative bias on the first day of the June derivatives series, reflecting market uncertainty. On technical charts, bearish signals emerged.
“The hourly RSI shows bearish price momentum, pointing to short-term weakness,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. “Signs of exhaustion are also visible on the daily RSI, coupled with a strong negative divergence.”
The Nifty continues to face resistance around the 24,800 level, where significant call writing activity has been observed. Analysts noted that a break below immediate support at 24,700 could trigger a further slide toward 24,500.
Investors also remained on edge following a U.S. appellate court’s temporary reinstatement of tariffs, adding to global trade uncertainty. This has contributed to a wait-and-watch sentiment across global markets.
“Macroeconomic concerns are weighing on sentiment globally,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. “However, foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows persist amid volatility in U.S. 10-year yields and optimism about India’s Q4 GDP data and a potential rate cut by the RBI.”
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee weakened by 8 paise to 85.52 against the U.S. dollar as the dollar index rose 0.25% to 99.46.
All eyes are now on the forthcoming GDP data, which analysts believe will influence market direction in the coming sessions. (Source: IANS)
