Mumbai — Indian equities closed lower as selling in financial and private banking stocks, along with heightened geopolitical concerns, weighed on investor sentiment.
The Sensex fell 455.59 points, or 0.58%, to close at 78,499.17, while the Nifty declined 65.35 points, or 0.27%, to 24,570.65.
Heavyweight financial stocks were among the biggest drags on the benchmarks, with the Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Private Bank indices among the weakest sectoral performers.
Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and Trent were among the top laggards on the Nifty.
Broader markets held up better than the benchmark indices. The Nifty MidCap index gained 0.22%, while the Nifty SmallCap index slipped 0.05%.
Auto and information technology stocks provided some support, with the Nifty Auto and Nifty IT indices emerging as the strongest major sectoral gauges during the session.
Analysts said the 24,600-24,700 range remains an important resistance zone for the Nifty, while 24,500 is the key near-term support level.
“On the downside, 24,500 remains the crucial immediate support. A decisive break below this level could trigger further profit booking and drag the index towards the 24,400–24,300 region,” an analyst said.
Market participants remained cautious amid geopolitical uncertainty, prompting investors to reduce exposure to financial stocks despite gains in some other sectors.
State Bank of India’s performance, however, offered support to sentiment in the banking space, with analysts pointing to healthy credit growth, improved asset quality and resilient margins.
“Notably, SBI’s strong performance, underpinned by healthy credit growth, improving asset quality and resilient margins, has reinforced confidence in the banking and PSU banking segments, offering an important pillar of support to the broader market outlook,” a market expert said. (Source: IANS)
