Stock market today: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined on Friday, with Sensex settling at 81,381.36 after plunging 230.05 points while Nifty slipped by 34.20 points, or 0.14 per cent, to settle at 24,964.25.
The drop in the indices was primarily attributed to selling in banking, utility and financial stocks as investors turned cautious ahead of key macro data. Besides, a mixed trend in global equity markets and unabated foreign fund outflows also hit investors' sentiment, traders said.
Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Power Grid, Axis Bank and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zones were among the laggards in Sensex while HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Titan were among the gainers.
Earlier in the day, the Sensex opened lower at around the 81,500 level, while the Nifty50 was above 24,950. In the pre-opening session at 9.16 am, the BSE Sensex was trading at 81,518.82, down 93 points or 0.11 per cent. The Nifty50 stood at 24,964.65, reflecting a decline of 34 points or 0.14 per cent.
"Overall we expect the market to consolidate in a range with stock-specific action. The IT sector is likely to be in focus as it will set the pace for other companies," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal.
Technical analysis indicates that the Nifty has support at 24,950-25,000 and 24,750 levels, while immediate resistance is seen at 25,100, with the next resistance zone at 25,250-275 levels.
Wall Street's main indices closed lower on Thursday as investors assessed higher-than-expected inflation and unemployment claims data for insights into the US economy and the future path of interest rates. Asian shares, however, rose on Friday, sidestepping the losses on Wall Street.
Oil prices eased on Friday after a rally the previous day, but they remained set for a second straight weekly gain. Investors weighed the impact of hurricane damage on US demand against potential supply disruptions if Israel attacks Iranian oil sites.
The US dollar fell from two-month highs hit overnight versus its major peers after signs of weakness in the labor market strengthened the case for quicker Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Eleven stocks are currently in the F&O ban period, including BirlaSoft, Bandhan Bank, Hindustan Copper, RBL Bank, Granules, Manappuram, PNB, GNFC, IDFC First Bank, SAIL, and Tata Chemicals.
FIIs turned net sellers on Thursday, offloading shares worth Rs 4,926 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,878 crore.
The net short position of FIIs increased from Rs 1.28 lakh crore on Wednesday to Rs 1.55 lakh crore on Thursday.
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