Mumbai, Oct 17 – Indian stocks opened lower on Friday as investors digested the second‑quarter earnings of big names like Infosys, Wipro and Eternal. Weak signals from Asia and rising US‑China tension kept sentiment on the cautious side, while gold hit a record high, adding pressure. On the other hand, a sharp drop in crude oil – with Brent buying at about $60 a barrel – could cushion losses for Indian shares.
By 9:20 a.m., the benchmark Sensex was trading at 83,365, down 103 points (0.12 %). The Nifty slid 33 points (0.13 %) to 25,552. Analysts said the Nifty held near the day’s high, closing above 25,550 with a strong bullish candle, hinting at near‑term strength. They flagged short‑term support at 25,500 and 25,400, while resistance sits around 25,700‑25,800.
Several major stocks fell sharply: Eternal, HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Trent, Tata Steel, Ultratech Cement and ICICI Bank slipped up to 3.5 %. In contrast, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki lifted gains of 0.3 %‑3 %, helping to offset some losses.
In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap index fell 0.28 %, while the SmallCap index edged up 0.10 %. Among sectors, IT led the decline with the Nifty IT index down 1.13 %. Pharma and PSU banks also slipped about 0.3 % each.
Market experts note that the overall market remains technically solid. Price action in leading stocks shows short covering, and with big shorts still on the books, a continuing rebound could keep bears in the back‑seat and spur further short‑covering activity.
Source: ianslive
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