Indian stock market ends lower after 3-day gains, Nifty below 23,250

Mumbai: India’s domestic benchmark indices ended lower on Friday as selling was seen in the IT and Financial service sectors.

Sensex ended at 76,619.33 down by 423.49 points or 0.55 per cent, and Nifty settled at 23,203.2, down by 108.60 points, or 0.47 per cent.

The Nifty remained under bearish pressure for yet another session. Sentiment remains weak as the index declined after encountering resistance at a crucial moving average, according to experts.

“This bearish sentiment may persist in the short term or as long as the index remains below 23,400. On the downside, it could drift toward 23,000. A decisive break below 23,000 might trigger a broader market correction. Conversely, 23,400 is likely to remain a strong resistance level,” said Rupak De of LKP Securities.

Since the recent peak in September 2024, the Nifty 50 has fallen by 11.5 per cent, with the Midcap index down 12 per cent and the Smallcap index sliding 11 per cent.

“The decline has steepened over the past week, but the real story lies beneath these numbers. Many individual stocks are down by 25-40 per cent, reflecting the broader pain that major indices often mask,” according to Krishna Appala of Capitalmind Research.

Nifty Bank ended at 49,540.6 down by 738.10 points or 1.50 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 54,607.65 after climbing 123.85 points, or 0.23 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 17,672.05 after adding 28.75 points, or 0.16 per cent.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 2,055 shares ended in the green and 1,887 shares in the red, whereas there was no change in 123 shares.

In the Sensex pack, Zomato, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Power Grid, Tata Steel, L&T, ITC, Sun Pharma, Titan, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Maruti Suzuki and NTPC were the top gainers. Whereas, Infosys, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, M&M, ICICI Bank, TCS and Tech Mahindra were the top losers.

In the meantime, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4,341.95 crore on January 16, on the other hand, domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2,928.72 crore on the same day.

–IANS