Sensex declines 200 pts, Nifty below 22,650 amid election jitters

From the pack, , , , , and opened with losses, falling up to 2.5%.

fell 2.5% after the firm reported a 64% fall in its consolidated net profit to Rs 611 crore in Q4 FY24, compared to Rs 1,705 crore reported in the same quarter a year earlier.

Kfin Technologies shares declined by 6% in early trade amid reports that global private equity firm General Atlantic likely sold up to 6.8% equity in the firm at an estimated floor price of Rs 712.5 per share.

Sector-wise, Metal fell 1.2%, dragged down by , Hindustan Zinc, and JSW Steel. IT, FMCG, Pharma, Healthcare, and Consumer Durables also opened over 0.5% lower.

Experts View
"A major concern is the spike in US bond yields pushing the 10-year yield above 4.6%. This can trigger continuation of the FII selling which will depress the prices of largecaps further," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

"The highly valued mid and smallcaps remaining resilient and the fairly valued largecaps turning weak is a short-term aberration. Long-term investors can profit from this temporary aberration," Vijayakumar suggested.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Nifty can find support at 22,650 followed by 22,600 and 22,500. On the higher side, 22,800 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 22,850 and 22,900."

Global Markets
Asian stocks were a sea of red on Thursday and bonds slid on bets global interest rates would stay higher for longer, as investors looked to key inflation readings at the end of the week for further clues on the future path of monetary policy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5%, tracking a negative lead from Wall Street and extending its 1.6% decline from the previous session.

Japan's Nikkei tumbled more than 1.5%, while U.S. and European futures similarly fell. EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.18% while S&P 500 futures dipped 0.35%. Nasdaq futures slumped 0.45%.

FII/DII Tracker
Foreign investors were net sellers of Indian equities on Wednesday, offloading shares worth Rs 5,841 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 5,234 crore stocks as per provisional NSE data.

Crude Oil
Oil prices were mostly stable on Thursday as the markets await U.S. crude oil stockpiles data, though resilient U.S. economic activity pointed to borrowing costs staying higher for longer in a potential blow to demand.

Brent futures dipped 4 cents or 0.05% to $83.56 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude eased 10 cents or 0.13% to $79.13.

Currency Watch
The Indian rupee fell 3 paise to 83.43 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, rose 0.01% to 105.13 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)