FIRST TRADE: Indices open lower; Sensex down 450 points, Nifty falls 112 points to 24,036

Sensex and Nifty started the new week on a muted note even as the major events per se US elections and the Fed meeting outcome are now behind. At the open, Nifty was down 0.46 per cent or 112 points at 24,036.1, while the Sensex was down 0.57 per cent or 449.61 points at 79,036.71.

Meanwhile, Bank Nifty was down nearly 250 odd points, while the broader markets face still higher selling pressure.

Sectorally, auto, pharma, realty and IT traded in the green, with the auto pack maintaining its previous week's mojo. On the contrary, oil & gas and consumer durables took the biggest beating in trade today with a cut of up to 0.7 per cent on the indices.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services remarked that the sustained rally in the US markets which have taken the Dow and S&P 500 above 40000 and 6000 respectively is no longer a tailwind for Indian markets. 

In India, in contrast, worse-than-expected earnings downgrades for FY25 are weighing on stock prices favouring the bears in the near-term. FIIs may continue to sell and move money to the US which has outperformed India so far this year. However, at some point valuations in India will become attractive and this will aid trend reversal favouring the bulls for a short while. The weakness in Chinese stocks consequent to the disappointing stimulus package will turn out to be positive for Indian stocks, he added.

Asian markets

Asian markets largely traded in the red, with the Hang Seng down over 2 per cent at the last count. The negative sentiment prevailed after the latest China stimulus failed to revive up the Street. Also, the latest data pin-pointed that deflation continued to be at play in China.

The MSCI Asia ex Japan index traded down by over 1 per cent at 593.88.

Technicals 

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities said, "Technically, Nifty’s immediate downside risk looms at 23,811, with any potential rebound likely to be a dead cat bounce unless there’s a decisive close above 24,537. As Q2 results trickle in, stocks like SBI, M&M, and Swiggy IPO are in focus. Traders are advised to sell Nifty around the 24,200-24,250 zone and Bank Nifty at CMP, while M&M stands out as a recommended long-term buy."