Sensex Erases 570-Point Surge, Closes 123 Points Down
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- Sensex opened up nearly 570 points and Nifty hit 24,400 on Iran-US peace hopes and oil falling below $95, but both erased all gains to close red on Thursday's weekly F&O expiry — Sensex down 123 points at 77,988.68, Nifty down 34.55 points at 24,197.
- Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed the benchmarks with gains of 0.63% and 0.89% respectively; 1,089 NSE stocks declined while 2,147 advanced, and ratio charts formed higher highs and higher lows against the Nifty.
- Foreign institutional investors net bought Indian equities worth Rs 666 crore on Wednesday, but this follows a Rs 1.6 lakh crore selloff between March 2 and April 9, with FIIs net buyers in only 2 of the last 30 sessions.
- The rupee rose 11 paise to close at 93.22/USD, recovering after the Iran war pushed it past the historical 95 mark before the RBI intervened; LKP Securities' Jateen Trivedi flagged the Strait of Hormuz as the key sensitivity for both crude and the currency.
- Iran and US officials are considering returning to Pakistan for talks as early as this weekend, with Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir arriving in Tehran on Wednesday; White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said they "feel good about the prospects of a deal."
- Brent crude fell below $95/barrel on morning peace hopes but edged back above $96 by afternoon, while Japan's Nikkei hit a fresh all-time high, Kospi gained over 2%, and global markets traded broadly in the green.
- Nifty faces the 24,320–24,350 zone as key resistance and 24,050–24,080 as immediate support, per SBI Securities' Sudeep Shah, who said a sustained move above 24,350 could extend the pullback toward 24,500–24,650.
Why it matters: The reversal leaves Nifty stuck below the 24,300 resistance, and with FIIs having dumped Rs 1.6 lakh crore over 30 sessions, Wednesday's Rs 666 crore buying is far too thin to confirm a trend change — particularly given the rupee's recent brush with 95/USD and analysts' warnings that any Iran-US talks setback would quickly push crude back up and drag the index toward 24,000.
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