Nifty, Sensex swing between gains and losses in volatile session while IT, FMCG indices fall

Nifty IT was the top sectoral loser in trade.

After beginning on a strong note, Dalal Street soon turned volatile, with benchmark indicies swinging between positive and negative territory. Geopolitical concerns kept investors cautious, and despite the announcement of GST reforms, overall sentiment remained subdued.

At close, the Sensex was down 7.25 points or 0.01 percent at 80,710.76, and the Nifty was up 6.70 points or 0.03 percent at 24,741.00. About 1968 shares advanced, 1791 shares declined, and 128 shares unchanged.

In the last hour of trade, markets showed a mixed but improving trend across sectors. Nifty Auto extended gains, rising 1.2 percent, remaining the day’s top performer. Nifty Metal and Nifty Media also moved higher, up 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, while PSU Bank, Infra, Energy, and Pharma indices managed to stay in the green with marginal gains.

On the other hand, Nifty IT continued to drag, slipping 1.5 percent, while Realty and FMCG also saw notable pressure, down 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

The FMCG pack fell to significant profit-booking after recording a rise over the past five sessions. Information and technology stocks also saw selling as reports suggested that US President Donald Trump would explore tariffs on the Indian IT sector.

"The high valuations even amidst geopolitical and tariff-related headwinds helped bears to accumulate short positions in the market. A significant feature of the present market trend is the weakness in overvalued mid and smallcaps and relative strength in the fairly valued largecaps. This is a healthy trend which can be expected to continue," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.

From a technical perspective, the index continues to lack a clear directional trend, as bulls and bears alternate dominance on successive days. Notably, Nifty has remained trapped within a broad consolidation band of 24,500–25,000, and only a decisive breakout beyond this range will trigger meaningful momentum on either side, noted Dhupesh Dhameja, Derivatives Research Analyst, SAMCO Securities.

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