Buy or sell stocks, 24 April 2026: Following the intensifying global uncertainty around the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key indices of the extended their losing streak for the second straight session on Thursday. The Nifty 50 index corrected 205 points and closed at 24,173. The BSE Sensex crashed 852 points and closed at 77,664. The Bank Nifty index nosedived 819 points, finishing at 56,305.
Sectorally, the weakness was led by rate-sensitive and cyclical pockets. Banking and auto stocks emerged as key drags, with heavyweights witnessing sustained selling pressure. Union Bank of India stood out on the downside, declining sharply after weak core income, margin compression, and a significant spike in provisions raised concerns about earnings visibility in the PSU banking space.
However, selective pockets offered resilience. The pharmaceutical space attracted defensive buying, with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories witnessing a strong rally on expectations of regulatory progress and its positioning as a safe-haven sector during volatile phases. Similarly, Jio Financial Services outperformed, supported by strategic developments including its joint venture with Allianz Group, which strengthens its long-term growth narrative in the insurance segment.
What Gift Nifty signals?
The chart is signalling a positive start for the Indian stock market today. The index opened flat but soon gathered positive momentum, touching an intraday high of 24,262 and logging an intraday gain of around 0.50% during the early morning deal on Friday.
Stock market today
Vaishali Parekh, Vice President — Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, believes the Indian stock market bias is cautious. The Prabhudas Lilladher expert said the Nifty 50 index is finding resistance around 24,500. She said the 50-stock index has strong support now at 23,900, and a bullish or bearish trend can be assumed on a break above or below this range. Parekh predicted a gap-up opening on Wednesday as the Gift Nifty is trading green with sizeable gains.
Speaking on the outlook of the Nifty 50 today, Vaishali Parekh said, “The Nifty 50 index, after resisting near the 24,600 zone, has been sliding down with profit booking seen and has breached below the important 24,300 zone with the bias and sentiment once again precariously placed and has become vulnerable and can anticipate further downward movement in the coming sessions.”
The Prabhudas Lilladher expert said the index would have important support zones at 23,500 and 23,000, which can be retested, provided the 24,300-24,400 zone is not decisively breached above in the coming days.
On the outlook for the Bank Nifty today, Parekh said the index slipped amid heavy profit booking, approaching the important 50-EMA at 56,300, with the bias turning weak and sentiment once again getting into a very cautious mode for the coming sessions.
“The important support at 55,000 and thereafter, 53,500 levels shall be the crucial zone, which needs to be sustained in the coming sessions, failing which one can expect further weakening of the trend. On the upside, the 200-period MA at the 57,300 level would be an important hurdle which needs to be breached decisively,” said Parekh.
Vaishali Parekh’s stock recommendations for today
Regarding stocks to buy today, Vaishali Parekh recommended these three intraday stocks to : Jio Financial Services, NOCIL, and COLPAL.
1] Jio Financial Service: Buy at ₹248.60, Target ₹262, Stop Loss ₹242;
2] NOCIL: Buy at ₹182.60, Target ₹192, Stop Loss ₹178; and
3] COLPAL: Buy at ₹2150, Target ₹2250, Stop Loss ₹2105.
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.