Mumbai, September 10: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty snapped a three-session losing streak on Thursday, recovering from the day’s lows amid value buying and gains in realty and financial stocks.
The Sensex closed 138.36 points, or 0.19 per cent, higher at 74,902.59, while the Nifty gained 46.30 points, or 0.20 per cent, to settle at 23,477.80.
The Sensex recovered nearly 300 points from its intraday low, while the Nifty managed to reclaim the psychologically important 23,450 level.
Market breadth remained mixed, with 1,872 shares advancing, 2,272 declining and 154 remaining unchanged on the BSE.
Value buying supports recovery
After six consecutive sessions of declines, investors stepped in to buy select stocks at lower levels, providing support to the benchmark indices.
Buying interest was particularly visible in realty and financial stocks, helping the broader market recover despite weakness in information technology, healthcare and automobile shares.
Among Nifty 50 constituents, Power Grid Corporation of India and HDFC Life Insurance gained nearly 2 per cent each and emerged as the top performers.
Financial stocks also witnessed buying interest. Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and Shriram Finance gained around 1 per cent each, while heavyweight HDFC Bank also rose nearly 1 per cent.
IT, pharma and auto stocks drag
The recovery remained capped by selling in several key sectors.
HCL Technologies fell nearly 2 per cent, making it the worst-performing Nifty 50 stock. Other IT majors, including Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, also traded lower after opening with gains.
Healthcare stocks remained under pressure, with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries declining nearly 1 per cent. Max Healthcare Institute, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise slipped between 0.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent.
Automobile stocks also remained weak. Eicher Motors declined around 1 per cent, while Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Bajaj Auto fell between 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent.
In the broader market, Tata Investment Corporation was the top gainer in the Nifty 200, rising more than 3 per cent, while Vodafone Idea declined over 3 per cent.
In the Nifty 500, Swan Corp surged more than 8 per cent, whereas HEG and HFCL fell around 5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.
Mid-cap indices declined around 0.4 per cent each, while small-cap indices gained about 0.1 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT slipped 0.2 per cent, while Nifty Pharma was the biggest laggard, falling 0.6 per cent.
Technical outlook remains cautious
Despite Thursday’s recovery, analysts said the broader technical setup remained weak and the market could witness further selling if the Nifty falls below the 23,400 level.
Pabitro Mukherjee, Deputy Vice President-Research at Bajaj Broking, said the immediate bias remained negative and a sustained formation of higher highs and higher lows on the daily chart would be required to signal a pause in the ongoing downtrend.
He said the index could extend its month-long decline towards the 23,300-23,200 zone, which represents the 80 per cent retracement of the previous upmove from 23,070 to 24,774.
According to Mukherjee, any pullback from the current oversold territory could face immediate resistance around 23,650, while stronger resistance is seen in the 23,800-24,000 range.
Gaurav Udani, Founder of Thincredblu Securities, said volatility could remain elevated amid the Sensex expiry, with sharp intraday movements likely.
He identified 23,300-23,350 as the key support zone and 23,600-23,700 as the immediate resistance area.
Udani maintained a cautious outlook and said traders could consider a sell-on-rise strategy if the index approaches the resistance zone without strong buying momentum.
A sustained break below 23,300 could trigger further selling, while holding the support zone could encourage short-covering and a recovery, he said.
