Kotak Bank drags Sensex 200 points lower; Nifty below 22,400

Kotak Mahindra Bank led the Sensex pack in losses, plummeting by 10% after RBI prohibited the private lender from acquiring new customers via its online and mobile banking platforms.

Furthermore, shares dipped over 1% after the company's earnings report, which revealed a 6% profit decline in Q4, missing estimates.

Meanwhile, LTI Mindtree shares slipped over 2% in early trade as the company reported lower-than-expected revenue for the March quarter, impacted by weakness in its banking vertical and reduced client spending.

On the sectoral front, Bank, Financial Services, FMCG, Realty, and Consumer Durables started the day with declines, whereas Nifty Media, Pharma, PSU Bank, and Healthcare began with gains.

Additionally, investors are eagerly anticipating the release of first-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) data later today, as they seek insights into the future rate trajectory of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Experts View
"The overarching trend of this market is its bullishness despite negative triggers. The rising bond yields in the US ( the 10-yr continues above 4.6%) and geopolitical tensions are not impacting the market at all. There are reports of Israel striking some sites linked to Hezbollah, but these will be ignored by the market unless it causes serious rector tensions," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, .

"The regulatory restrictions on will weigh on the stock. Since the VIX is at low levels, the market will not witness any serious corrections. In the near-term, consolidation is likely," Vijayakumar said.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Nifty can find support at 22,300 followed by 22,250 and 22,200. On the higher side, 22,450 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 22,500 and 22,600."

Asian Markets
Asian stocks fell on Thursday as disappointing earnings forecasts from Facebook parent Meta Platforms hammered tech shares. Japan's Nikkei slid 1.3%, while China stocks also fell, with the blue-chip CSI300 index down 0.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index 0.5% lower.

FII/DII Tracker
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 2,511.74 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 3,809.90 crore worth of stocks on April 24, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Crude Oil
Oil prices eased in early trade on Thursday as concerns about a potential slowdown in the U.S. economy amid prospects for delayed interest rate cuts outweighed worries over the risk of expanding conflict in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures dipped 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $86.95 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $82.74 a barrel. Both benchmarks lost less than 1% on Wednesday.

Currency Watch
The Indian rupee fell 3 paise to 83.36 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.08% to 105.77 level.

(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)