Stock market today: Frontline indices, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, snapped their two-day winning run on Tuesday, 26 May, due to profit booking amid weak global cues and a jump in crude oil prices.
The lost 479 points, or 0.63%, to close at 76,009.70, while the NSE counterpart shed 118 points, or 0.49%, to settle at 23,913.70.
However, the mid and small-cap indices outperformed; the BSE 150 Midcap index rose by 0.33%, while the BSE 250 Smallcap index climbed 0.21%.
The gains in mid and small-cap segments kept the overall market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed firms stable at ₹469 lakh crore.
Market sentiment remained cautious, as there is still no clarity on a potential US-Iran peace deal or its timeline. Reports of US military operations in southern Iran drove oil prices higher, weakening the Indian rupee.
After the on southern Iran, Israel’s air force also began targeting sites belonging to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah launched an explosive drone at IDF troops inside Israel, as per reports.
The Indian rupee, as per PTI, dropped 47 paise to close at 95.73 per dollar, after crude oil benchmark Brent Crude jumped more than 3% to trade above the $99 per barrel.
“Near-term optimism around a potential US–Iran peace deal faded sharply following reports of US military operations in southern Iran, triggering a spike in crude prices and reversing the rupee’s brief appreciation,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, noted.
“The monthly F&O expiry further amplified technical selling pressure in an already risk-off environment, leading domestic equities to close lower. Despite this, mid-cap resilience stood out, with the index touching an all-time high during the session. This strength reflects structural confidence in domestic earnings, supported by sustained DII inflows even as FII outflows weighed on sentiment,” Nair added.
As many as 32 stocks ended in the red in the Nifty 50 index, among which Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Trent, TCS, and Titan Company lost the most.
On the other hand, Adani Enterprises, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Tech Mahindra, and Eternal ended at the top in the index.
Most sectoral indices ended lower, with Nifty Consumer Durables falling more than 1%. Bank Nifty dropped 0.36%, while the Private Bank and PSU Bank indices lost 0.62% and 0.46%, respectively.
Nifty Financial Services declined 0.65%. Nifty Metal, however, bucked the trend, rising by 1.10%.
Nifty 50 technical view
According to Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, the market action suggests a hurdle around the 24,100 level.
Shetti said this consolidation or weakness has not damaged the market’s short-term positive sentiment, and Nifty could eventually bounce back from the lows and surpass the 24,100 hurdle in the near term. Immediate support is placed at the 23,800 levels.
Analysts at Bajaj Broking highlighted that the Nifty 50 closed below the 50-day EMA.
“The index has immediate support at 23,600 levels; failure to hold above 23,600 will signal extension of the consolidation. While major short-term support is placed at 23,200-23,000, being the confluence of the lower band of the 8th April bullish gap area and the 61.8% retracement of the previous pullback (22,182-24,601),” said analysts at Bajaj Broking.
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