ended marginally lower on Tuesday, weighed down by a sharp reversal in the rupee after it touched a record low and weak broader market sentiment, with nearly two-thirds of traded stocks declining and 196 scrips hitting 52-week lows.
The closed at 84,559.65, down 120.21 points or 0.14 per cent, after opening higher at 84,856.26. The fell 41.55 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 25,818.55, after touching an intraday high of 25,902.40. Of the 4,328 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,761 declined against 1,403 advances, while 164 remained unchanged.
“Equity markets traded in a narrow range with a mild bearish bias, as the rupee’s sharp intraday recovery—after opening at a record low—proved short-lived, weighing on investor sentiment,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money.
“After starting the session at an all-time low of 91.07 against the , the local currency briefly strengthened toward 89.96 before slipping back above the 90 mark amid continued foreign outflows.”
The currency volatility took center stage as the rupee witnessed wild swings during the session.
“The rupee rebounded sharply from near 91.00 to around 90.35, likely aided by intervention, snapping a multi-day losing streak. However, the sustainability of this recovery remains uncertain as India–US trade deal clarity is still awaited and FII selling continues,” said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that volatility is expected to persist with the rupee likely to trade in the 89.80–90.80 range.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty PSU Bank rallied 1.20 per cent, while Nifty Media shed 1.80 per cent. Nifty Realty and FMCG also emerged as key laggards. The Nifty Midcap 100 declined 321.95 points or 0.54 per cent to 59,388.85, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 126.60 points or 0.73 per cent to 17,138.55.
Shriram Finance led the Nifty gainers, rising 2.07 per cent to ₹866.00, followed by State Bank of India which gained 1.58 per cent to ₹976.35, Hindalco which added 1.30 per cent to ₹848.00, Eicher Motors which climbed 1.15 per cent to ₹7,143.00, and Tata Consumer which rose 0.86 per cent to ₹1,180.00.
On the losing side, Max Healthcare plunged 3.71 per cent to ₹1,033.20, Apollo Hospitals fell 1.98 per cent to ₹6,912.00, Trent declined 1.66 per cent to ₹4,040.30, Bajaj Auto dropped 1.55 per cent to ₹8,868.00, and HDFC Life slipped 1.49 per cent to ₹752.95.
“Today, the benchmark indices experienced selling pressure at higher levels,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities. “Technically, after a muted open, the market faced resistance near 25,920/84900 and reversed sharply. On daily charts, it has formed a bearish candle, and on intraday charts, it is maintaining a lower top formation, which is largely negative.”
Ajit Mishra, SVP Research at Religare Broking, noted that “early optimism faded as the session progressed, despite some easing in currency pressure. Selling in heavyweight stocks across sectors led to broad-based weakness, while muted cues from global markets further dampened investor sentiment.”
Gold prices remained volatile during the session. “Gold prices remained volatile, opening near ₹1,35,200 before witnessing a sharp decline to ₹1,33,500 as the rupee strengthened sharply on likely RBI intervention,” said Trivedi, adding that MCX gold pulled down to around ₹1,34,250, reflecting mild weakness of about 0.14 per cent.
“With a data-heavy week ahead in the U.S., including key inflation and labour market indicators, gold is expected to remain highly volatile, with a broad trading range seen between ₹1,31,000 and ₹1,36,000 in the near term.”
Technical analysts remained cautious about the near-term outlook. “Nifty has remained in the bears’ grip, as the index stayed below the 21 EMA for yet another session, confirming a bearish short-term trend,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, noting that “a decisive slip below 25,700 could trigger a correction towards 25,500–25,400.”
Looking ahead, Sudeep Shah, Head – Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, highlighted that “the previous swing low zone of 25,700-25,650 will act as important support. If the index slips below the 25,650 level, it could trigger a further correction upto the 25,500 level.” On the upside, the 25,950-26,000 zone is expected to act as crucial resistance.