Sensex slips 200 points lower, Nifty below 24,650; bank, auto stocks drag

Domestic benchmark indices opened lower on Thursday, dragged by losses in banking and auto stocks, after a strong rally earlier this week that took them to nearly seven-month highs. Analysts expect consolidation as recent gains from trade deal progress and macroeconomic stability appear to be priced in.

At around 9:23 am, the BSE Sensex was down 229 points, or 0.28%, at 81,100, while the Nifty50 slipped 58 points, or 0.24%, to 24,608.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, M&M, Maruti, Kotak Bank, and Axis Bank were among the top laggards in early trade, while Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, and HCL Tech opened with gains.

Among individual stocks, Tata Power jumped 2% after the company reported a 25% YoY increase in its consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 1,306 crore in Q4FY25.

Eicher Motors shares surged 2% after the company posted a strong set of Q4FY25 numbers, with consolidated net profit rising 27% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,362 crore, beating Street estimates of Rs 1,265 crore.

Overnight, Wall Street ended mixed after a strong rally earlier in the week, driven by the U.S.-China trade truce announced on Monday.While the latest U.S. inflation data indicated progress toward the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, two Fed officials noted that the figures do not yet account for the impact of U.S. tariffs, leaving the outlook uncertain.Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak later in the day, with investors watching closely for any signals on potential policy easing.

Experts View

“The market appears to be heading for a near-term consolidation phase with the mid and smallcaps outperforming. The sustained robust FII buying which lifted the largecaps is likely to weaken in the new context of trade deal emerging between US and China. The possibility of a ‘Sell India; Buy China’ tactical FII trade cannot be ruled out now. This will weigh on largecaps and strengthen the case for further rally in mid and smallcaps, despite the valuation concerns,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

“The defence stocks are again witnessing renewed buying after the prime minister’s appreciation of the performance of made in India defence weapons. The medium to long-term prospects of defence companies, particularly those of exporters, look bright. However, the valuations of these stocks are high and , therefore, investors have to be cautious,” Vijayakumar added.

Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, said, “Nifty’s bullish trend remains firmly intact as it continues to trade above all key moving averages. On the downside, strong support levels are established at 24500 and 24378, while resistance is likely to emerge at 24,850 and 24,975 on the upside.”