Stock market today: The came under intense selling pressure on Monday, 1 June, soon after opening on an upbeat note, as investors adopted a sell-on-rise approach due to lingering concerns like elevated crude prices and the lack of an outcome on the Middle East conflict.
India has also lost favour with foreign institutional investors (FIIs), which has kept the benchmark indices under pressure this year.
In today’s trade, closed at 74,267, down 508 points or 0.68%, taking its four-day losses to 2,220 points. The declined by 165 points or 0.70% to settle at 23,383, losing almost 650 points in the last four trading sessions.
Investors lost ₹4.26 lakh crore today as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies fell to ₹460.70 lakh crore from ₹464.97 lakh crore as of Friday’s close.
The broader markets underperformed today as investors moved towards relatively better-valued opportunities in large-cap equities, seeking stability amid global uncertainties. declined 1.45%, and the lost 0.88%.
What drove the Indian stock market lower?
Recent US strikes and the escalation in cross-border hostilities between Israel and Lebanon have exerted selling pressure on equity markets, reflecting heightened geopolitical uncertainty and a shift towards risk-off sentiment, said Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services.
According to an AP report, quoting the American military, the United States bombed Iranian radar and drone control sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American MQ-1 Predator drone this weekend. Iran acknowledged launching a retaliatory strike, while Kuwait said it was intercepting incoming drone and missile fire.
These attacks signal the fragility of a week-long ceasefire in the , with officials from both sides looking to finalise a deal to end this conflict, which has now stretched over three months.
The latest skirmishes once again provided fresh fillip to oil prices as the jumped 3% to near $94 per barrel and the WTI crude futures were higher by 3.7% at $90.5 per barrel.
Continued foreign institutional outflows, pressure in heavyweight banking stocks and concerns over the potential inflationary impact of higher energy prices further dragged domestic equities. According to NSDL data, net sold Indian stocks worth ₹21,940 crore in May, taking the year-to-date (YTD) outflows to a record ₹246,881 crore.
That said, on the domestic front, the resumption of India-US trade negotiations, with a focus on an interim trade agreement, could act as a supportive trigger for market sentiment going forward, believes Nair.
Expectations of a weak monsoon also spooked investors, driving consumer goods and auto indices lower by up to 2% today.
India forecast an -weakened monsoon in 2026 that will bring the lowest rainfall in 11 years, fuelling concerns over crops, food prices and growth in the world’s fifth-largest economy, battling inflationary pressures from the Iran war.
This year’s monsoon is seen at 90% of a long-period average, below an April forecast of 92% and the weakest since 2015, M. Ravichandran, secretary in the earth sciences ministry, told a press conference earlier on Friday.
Going ahead, investors will eye the RBI rate announcement later in the week along with key economic data prints.
Nifty 50 outlook: Tech view
Commenting on the technical outlook for Nifty 50, Sudeep Shah – Head of Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, said that Nifty has given a breakdown from a parallel channel formation and registered a lower close, ending below the previous day’s low. “The RSI has slipped to 40, indicating weakening momentum, while the ADX indicator continues to reflect a bearish setup with the DI- line widening its lead over the DI+, highlighting the strong presence of sellers in the market,” he said.
Going ahead, Shah said that the immediate support for Nifty is placed in the 23250-23230 zone. Any sustainable move below this zone could result in Nifty extending its weakness towards 23100, followed by 22950 in the short term, he cautioned. On the upside, the immediate resistance for Nifty is placed in the 23530-23550 zone.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, also believes that the short-term texture of the market is weak, but due to temporary oversold conditions, we could expect a technical bounce back from the current levels. “For day traders, 23,500/74500 would act as a trend decider level. Below this, the correction wave is likely to continue on the downside, with the market potentially slipping to 23,250–23,200/74000-73700. On the flip side, above 23,500/74500, the bounce back could continue until 23,650–23,700/74800-75000.
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.