Nifty pauses after a six-day rally to slip below 23,700, Sensex off day's high on profit booking

HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, and HDFC Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty.

Indian benchmarks witnessed profit booking after kicking off trading on a strong note on March 25, with Sensex and Nifty rising for the seventh straight session. 11 out of 13 sectoral indices were trading in red and the benchmarks fell steeply from their day's highs.

At 11:13 am, the Sensex was down 3.72 points at 77,980.66, and the Nifty was down 6.70 points or 0.03 percent at 23,651.65. About 986 shares advanced, 2485 shares declined, and 110 shares unchanged.

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"Trump administration may initially pursue a narrower set of reciprocal tariffs on a group of countries that represent the majority of U.S. trade and this could reduce the scope of the inflation impact of tariffs, while also potentially facilitating trade negotiations," says Devarsh Vakil of HDFC Securities. He added that sustained short-covering activities by foreign investors, and robust institutional buying in cash markets is also aiding sentiment on the bourses.

On March 24, Foreign institutional investors (FII/FPI) continued their buying streak for the third straight session on March 24, purchasing shares worth Rs 3,055.76 crore while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth Rs 98.54 crore, provisional data showed.

For the year so far, FIIs have been net sellers of shares worth Rs 1.55 lakh crore, while DIIs have net bought Rs 1.82 lakh crore worth of shares.

Also read: Subdued cash volumes reflect investor caution even as Sensex, Nifty extend the rebound

Yet, risks remain—geopolitical tensions and tariff-related disruptions could cloud sentiment. The market’s path ahead will hinge on a sustained recovery in domestic consumption and the resilience of corporate earnings.

The broader market traded in the red, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 slipping 0.89 and 1.19 percent, respectively. Experts caution that the recent correction may not be over yet, warning of potential downside risks ahead. Year-to-date, both indices remain in the red, with midcaps down 8 percent and smallcaps losing 12 percent, underscoring the lingering weakness in the space.

Read more: UBS upgrades UltraTech Cement, Dalmia Bharat, Ambuja Cement to 'buy', shares jump up to 3%

11 out 13 indices traded lower. Nifty IT emerged as the top performer, rising over 1 percent, driven by gains in Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech, and Wipro. Nifty Bank added 0.4 percent during mid-day. On the flip side, Nifty Pharma, Metal, Oil and Gas and PSU Bank were the biggest laggards, crashing over a percen each.  slipping almost 1 percent. Nifty Auto, Consumer Durables, and Realty also fell up to 1 percent

A few individual names have been buzzing in today's trade. UltraTech Cement shares surged over 3 percent in today’s session after UBS upgraded the stock to ‘buy’, citing an improving outlook for the cement sector. The global brokerage expects demand to rebound strongly in the upcoming fiscal year, marking the end of a rough patch that saw soft demand, falling prices, and sluggish volume growth.

Shares of defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) gained as much as 5 percent in morning trade on March 25 after the company announced on March 24 that it has signed a contract with Germany-based Carsten Rehder Schiffsmakler and Reederei GmbH & Co. KG for the construction and delivery of the seventh and eighth 7,500 DWT multi-purpose vessels (MPVs).

Shares of India Pesticides, Insecticides India, NACL, and Alkyl Amines declined by up to 2 percent after the government imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports of roller chains from China. Notably, IFB Industries had sought this duty to curb unfair competition. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has also recommended an anti-dumping duty on imports of Pretilachlor, a widely used herbicide, from China, potentially impacting agrochemical stocks further.

"A bullish candle on the daily chart and an uptrend continuation formation on the intraday chart indicates further upside from current levels," Shrikant Chouhand, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities said. "We believe the short-term market formation is still on the positive side, but due to temporary overbought conditions, we may see some profit booking at higher levels. For day traders, the 23,700-23,800 and 78,300-78,500 (Nifty and Sensex) range would be the key resistance zones, while 23,500-23,400/77,500-77,200 could act as crucial support levels for trend-following traders," he added.

HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, and HDFC Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty. Dr Reddy's, Hindalco, Shriram Finance, IndusInd Bank, and Adani Ports were the top laggards.