Indices close on a lower note ahead of US inflation data; Sensex dips 150 points in a volatile trading session

SBI Life Insurance, UltraTech Cement and L&T emerged as the top gainers from the Nifty 50 stocks despite weak sentiment in the market

Market update at 3.30 PM: Indices closed on a lower note ahead of US inflation data set to be released later this evening. NSE Nifty 50 index slipped 0.21 per cent at the end of the day to close below 17,900 level. S&P BSE Sensex lost 150 points to end below 60,000 level. Nifty Midcap plunged 0.31 per cent while Nifty Smallcap ended flat.   

Media and IT stocks were the prime movers in revering the market. Meanwhile, energy and banks remained weak throughout the day.   

SBI Life Insurance, UltraTech Cement and L&T emerged as the top gainers from the Nifty 50 stocks despite weak sentiment in the market while Divis Laboratories, Reliance Industries and BPCL were the top losers.   

Nifty recovered about 100 points from day’s low and indicated strong buying interest at lower levels. 17,800 level once again stood as strong support for Nifty. Meanwhile, global markets shall be in focus with US inflation data coming up later in the evening.  

Market update at 11.15 AM: Indices have slipped to the day’s low as investors flee risky assets ahead of inflation data. NSE Nifty 50 index has slipped half a per cent to trade at 17,800 level while S&P BSE Sensex has dipped 350 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap are also trading on a weaker note.   

All the sectors are trading in red, with Banks experiencing strong sell-off. Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are among the top losers from the Nifty 50 stocks, along with Divis Laboratories and Reliance Industries.   

About 878 stocks are advancing as against 1070 stocks that are declining, thus indicating poor sentiment in the market.   

Despite the weakness, some stocks like L&T, Grasim and JSW Steel have witnessed buying interest and are the top gainers from the Nifty 50 stocks. HCL Technologies also trades higher ahead of its quarterly earnings result.   

Any fall below 17,800 level can trigger fresh short positions in Nifty. 

Market update at 9.30 AM: Indices have been trading mixed at the start of the session. NSE Nifty 50 index has risen 0.11 per cent while Sensex has gained 100 points. Stocks specific action is seen across midcap and Smallcap stocks.  

IT and media stocks have seen fresh buying interest while metals are weak today. India VIX has jumped nearly 1 per cent.  

Pre-market update: The major indices on Wall Street edged higher ahead of US inflation data as investors expect inflation to cool down for the month of December. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 268 points while Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.76 per cent. With this, the Asian markets have opened higher on Thursday morning and trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-up opening of about 50 points for Nifty.

Crude oil prices jump 3 per cent on the back of optimistic global economy for 2023. Brent crude oil price currently trades above USD 82 per barrel.

Sah Polymers is set to debut on the bourses today. It is expected to list with a gain of over 10 per cent over to its issue price.

Infosys and HCL technologies are set to declare results today and are likely to be in focus.

In the last trading session, the FIIs offloaded shares worth Rs 3208 crore while the DIIs bought equity worth Rs 2430 crore.

Nifty is expected to open above 17,900 level and with today being the weekly expiry day, the volatility is expected to persist throughout the day.