The Indian stock market opened lower amid higher crude prices and continued selling by Foreign Institutional Investors. The Nifty 50 opened 76.75 points lower at 22,543.70 from the previous day's close, while the Bank Nifty started at 54,583.05, falling 50 points. The Sensex opened 287.4 points lower at 72,728.55 

Broader indices outperformed the benchmark indices, with the Nifty Midcap index ending in the green, while the Nifty Smallcap index gained 0.3%. The Indian rupee opened at Rs. 95.95 per dollar on Thursday against Wednesday's close of Rs. 95.82.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers for the fifth consecutive session on September 30, offloading equities worth more than Rs. 10,000 crore. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) continued to provide support, buying equities worth Rs. 11,271 crore during the session. 

Sensex Outlook

Sensex opened at 72,728.55, touched an intraday high of 73,062.23 and a low of 72,366.44. After a steady rise during the session, the benchmark faced strong selling near the 73,000 mark and shed most of its intraday gains, resulting in an almost flat close.

The Sensex remains sideways to bearish, with 72,000-72,200 crucial on the downside and 72,700-73,000 acting as the immediate hurdle. A decisive breakout above 73,000 could improve sentiment, whereas a breakdown below 72,000 may extend the prevailing weakness, said Sachin Gupta, VP, Technical Research at Choice Equity Broking Private Limited.

Nifty 50 Outlook

The Nifty 50 formed an inverted hammer candle on Thursday, with a small body and a long upper shadow, indicating selling pressure around the 22,800 level after the index failed to sustain its intraday gains.

The immediate bias for the Nifty remains on the downside. A further decline could take the index towards the key support zone of 22,400.

"A move above Thursday's high of 22,810 will signal a pullback towards the 23,000 levels. However, for a meaningful trend reversal, the index would require forming a sustained Higher High-Higher Low structure and reclaiming the 23,000-23,100 level. A sustained move above 23,100 could signal a pause in the ongoing downtrend," said Bajaj Broking Research.

Traders are likely to track the 22,810 level on the upside and 22,400 on the downside. A sustained move above 22,810 could open the way towards 23,000, while continued weakness could bring the 22,400 support zone into focus.

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Bank Nifty Outlook

Bank Nifty formed a bullish candle with a higher high and a higher low. "Going ahead, a pullback above Thursday's high of 55,135 will signal an extension of the pullback towards 55,600 and 56,000 levels in the coming sessions, being the recent breakdown area. Failure to move above Thursday's high will signal some consolidation in the range of 53,500-55,100 levels in the coming sessions ahead of the RBI monetary policy outcome during next week," said Bajaj Broking Research.

On the downside, Bank Nifty has short-term support in the 53,500-53,000 zone. This zone represents the confluence of previous major lows and the measuring implication of the recent range breakdown from 58,500 to 56,000.