Stock Market Update: Nifty Opened 0.88% Lower, Sensex Declined 593 Points Amid Rising Oil Prices

The Indian stock market opened lower amid a sharp rise in crude oil prices, which continued to weigh on investor sentiment. The Nifty 50 was down 207.5 points or 0.88% at the open to 23,270.30, while Bank Nifty started 501.8 points lower than prior close. Sensex fell 593.43 points to 74,309.16.

Broader indices remained under pressure, with the Nifty midcap index falling 0.4% and the smallcap index ending unchanged. The Indian rupee opened 24 paise lower at Rs. 95.68 per dollar on Friday versus the previous close of Rs. 95.44.

Foreign institutional investors turned net sellers on Thursday, offloading Rs. 438.24 crore of Indian equities, while domestic institutional investors bought a net Rs. 1,025.85 crore, according to NSE data. 

Sensex Outlook

Technically, for Sensex, the short-term outlook remains weak, but given temporary oversold conditions, a pullback can be seen.

“For day traders, 74,700 would act as key support zones, while 75,000 would be the immediate hurdles for the bulls. A move above 75,000 could extend the bounce back to 75,500-75,700. Conversely, below 74,700, selling pressure is likely to accelerate. If the market drops below this level, it could slip to 74,500-74,200,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head, Equity Research, Kotak Securities.

Nifty 50 Outlook

The Nifty 50 formed a high-wave candle on the daily chart with a lower high and lower low, pointing toward consolidation with a corrective bias.

Weakness could extend the last one-month decline toward the 23,300-23,200 zone in the coming sessions. This range represents the 80% retracement of the previous up move from 23,070 to 24,774. 

On the other hand, the market could see a pullback if the Nifty manages to hold above Thursday's low of 23,380. 

"Pullback attempt will face immediate resistance at Wednesday's gap area of 23,650. While stiff resistance is placed around 23,800-24,000 levels being the recent breakdown area and 20 days EMA. The previous support area is likely to reverse its role and act as resistance in the short term," said Pabitro Mukherjee, Deputy Vice President-Research, Bajaj Broking.

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Bank Nifty Outlook

The Bank Nifty formed a small bullish candle on its daily chart in the previous session, but the formation of a lower high and lower low continues to indicate consolidation with a corrective bias. 

The index is currently positioned near the lower end of its 10-week trading range of 56,000-58,700. 

A break below 56,000 could signal a further extension of the corrective decline, with the next downside levels placed at 55,300 and 54,800 in the coming weeks. 

"Immediate bias in the index continues to remain down and only a formation of higher high and higher low on a sustained basis in the daily chart will signal a pause in the current downtrend. While sustaining above 56,000 levels on a closing basis will signal continuation of the last 10 weeks consolidation," said Pabitro Mukherjee, Deputy Vice President-Research, Bajaj Broking.