Stock Market Alert: Nifty Below 24,500, Sensex Sinks 130; Can Midcaps Steal the Show Today?

Stock Market Today Opening: The Indian stock market started Thursday's trading session on a choppy note as Nifty 50 opened below 24,500 and BSE Sensex tumbled by 130 points. The weak stock market opening today is in contrast with positive closing of the US stock market indices and strong performance of the Asian stock markets today.

However, Nifty and Sensex muted opening was in synchronisation with the Gift Nifty's movement earlier in the day. Gift Nifty was down 50 points today. The weak market sentiments followed India's strong diplomatic actions against Pakistan in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

Big Movers of the Day

Nifty Bank was under pressure during the stock market opening with several banking stocks like Kotak, ICICI, HDFC Bank, etc in red. Nifty Midcap opened the session in green, whereas other broad market indices remained flat. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserve emerged as the top gainers. Tata Consumer shares emerged as one of the weaker stocks today post in-line q4 results. Eternal (earlier known as ZOmato) was trading in lowers. L&T and Cipla were also trading in green. Thyrocare shares were up more than 12% during the stock market opening, a day after the company announced q4 results for financial year 2024-25.

Stock Market Recap

Nifty 50 closed at an over 4-month high mark of 24,282 points on Wednesday, whereas BSE Sensex ended the last session at 80,116.49 points. The Indian stock market indices have continued to showcase strong momentum since the beginning of this week. The positive momentum continued in the Nifty Bank index, even after it touched its highest levels since the beginning of 2025.

Focusing on the broad market indices, Nifty Midcap 100 increased over 1%, whereas Smallcap100 increased with a modest gain of 0.4%. Nifty IT increased around 4.4%, whereas Small Cap also made modest gains of 0.4%.

"US tariff war and stronger-than-expected revenue growth guidance from HCL Tech. Auto, Pharma, Healthcare and Realty indices followed with gains of 1-2% each. Nifty Bank declined by 0.5% due to profit booking after a sharp rally in the past few trading session. Sector-specific action would gather pace, with the Q4 earnings season now in full swing. Several heavyweight companies including HUL, Axis Bank, Nestle, SBI Life, Tech Mahindra amongst other will be announcing results on Thursday. Overall, we expect the up-move to continue in the Indian market on the back of continued buying interest and supportive domestic cues, while tracking developments on the US tariff front," noted Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Stock Market Outlook

"A spinning top candle stick formation on the day before, that hinted at a pause, has now been followed up by a hanging man, suggesting that sellers are gaining dominance. This makes 24150-24050 vulnerable. Break of the same will bring in 23900-670 as the initial landing point for drops, but a collapse beyond the same is less expected. Alternatively, if 24050 region continues to hold initial slippages, expect sharp upswing aiming 24500," noted Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

"Nifty's decoupling from the S&P 500 is striking. While S&P 500 is down 8.4% YTD Nifty is up 2.27% YTD. The resilience of the Indian economy, the expected slowdown in the US economy, the weakness in the dollar and the steady FII buying in India of Rs 21263 crores in the last 6 days are contributing to the outperformance of India.
However, the stretched valuations ( Nifty is trading above 20 times estimated FY 26 earnings) will constrain the rally. In the very short run, the market may respond to the results flowing in. However, going forward, the market will be concerned about the timing, nature and magnitude of India's response to the terror attacks and its consequences. Therefore, investors have to be cautious even while remaining invested," noted Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

Global Stock Market: How Did US and Asian Stocks Perform?

U.S. stock markets ended Wednesday's session in the green amid positive developments related to US President Donald Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell. S&P 500 was up 1.67% and ended the session at 5375.86. Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 419 points and closed 39606.57. Asian stock markets are also trading in green today. Nikkei 225 was nominally higher by 0.5%. However, Hang Seng Index was trading 1.3% lower.